Green Crystal

Kronos started out full of ambition, but after looking at four or five stalls, he became a little discouraged.

No wonder these people don't sell anything at the Trading Gathering inside; it's all just a pile of junk.

Of course, saying that is a bit of an exaggeration.

However, these items were indeed of very low value; they were the kind that Kronos wouldn't even bother to pick up if they were thrown on the ground.

After much effort, I finally found a Charm that could reach Sequence 8, but upon inspection, it turned out to be usable only once.

As for those extraordinary materials, most of them had lost a lot of their Spirituality, and it's unknown how long they've been kept in their hands.

Despite his disappointment, Kronos did not slacken his efforts, for he knew that selecting materials for nascent Spell was like finding a needle in a haystack; there were no shortcuts.

"Boss, can you show me that black stone?" Kronos spotted something familiar at the seventh stall.

After the Boss handed it to him, Kronos confirmed that it was indeed material for a Darkness Pathway Spell— "Night Stalking"—and it was quite valuable.

"How much is this?" This was the first time in a long time that Kronos had asked the price.

The Boss was in a bit of a dilemma. He had had this stone for almost a year. He had bought it because he thought it was strange, but no one wanted it in the past year. So the Boss was afraid that if he asked for a high price, he would scare the person away.

Finally, the Boss tentatively asked, "How about three soli? I only need to make a profit on the transportation fee."

Kronos didn't even haggle; he immediately handed over the money. If he were to buy this from the Church of Evernight, it would cost one hundred pounds per pound, and the piece he had was probably a pound, yet it only cost three soli.

Seeing how readily Kronos agreed, the Boss knew he had sold at a loss, but he had no choice but to accept the offer, since the cost was only three pence.

While he didn't encounter any weapons or Charm possessing extraordinary power, Kronos subsequently acquired several materials for casting Spell.

While it wasn't a complete loss, the gains were certainly insufficient to satisfy Kronos's appetite.

Just as he had inspected more than two-thirds of the stalls in the entire trading market, a good item appeared.

It was a black Cloak, and Kronos couldn't see anything special about it, but his inexplicable Spirituality was urging him not to let the Cloak slip by.

"Boss, what's the story behind this Cloak? I don't see anything special about it," Kronos asked, pointing at the Cloak.

The Boss rolled his eyes. "If I knew what was so special about it, would you even have a chance to get it?"

Then the Boss continued, "My son pulled this up while fishing in the sea. I don't know how long it had been in the sea, but it looked brand new when he pulled it out. I asked many people to look at it, but no one could recognize it, so I had no choice but to bring it here to sell."

Kronos feigned reluctance, "If you know nothing and haven't shown any interest, then I wouldn't dare buy it."

Kronos wasn't really that concerned about small sums of money; he wasn't stupid. This thing didn't have a clear value to begin with. If the Boss asked for a hundred or two hundred pounds, that would be fine. But if he realized Kronos was interested and asked for two thousand pounds, he would be losing a lot of money.

The Boss had been selling these Cloak for a long time and naturally knew everyone was worried about this, so he gritted his teeth and said, "I used to sell them for eighty pounds, but how about this, young man, you can take them for fifty pounds."

After saying that, he pointed to the people around him and said, "If you don't believe me, ask them. The price I gave you is definitely the lowest."

Kronos hesitated, glancing at the stall owners on both sides, only to see them nod in agreement.

He then pretended to hesitate for a while before finally saying, "Okay, this price it is, I'll take it."

After saying this, Kronos counted out fifty pounds and handed them to the Boss, then took the Cloak.

After moving aside, Kronos used both the Eyes of Mystery Prying and the Eye of Time to examine it for a long time, but he still couldn't figure out what it was.

However, there was a clue: the Eye of Time the Cloak's Timeline. This made Kronos more certain that it was indeed a good item, but he just didn't know how to use it.

Since he couldn't figure it out for the time being, he decided to stop researching it. Kronos draped the Cloak over himself and continued his shopping spree.

Occasionally, one or two Charm that are still usable can be seen, but most of them are at the Sequence 9 or Sequence 8 level, Kronos doesn't really care about, since the power of any Spell he uses now far exceeds that of these Charm.

Just when Kronos had completely given up hope, something very novel appeared before Kronos eyes: a pale green, almost completely transparent crystal.

Although neither Spirituality nor the Power of Time offered any clues, Kronos felt at first glance that this thing was very suitable, perhaps simply because it looked like the Time Stone.

Kronos quickly said to the stall owner, "Let me see that green stone."

The stall owner's demeanor was clearly different. He examined Kronos from head to toe for a while before carefully presenting the green crystal to Kronos.

Just by looking at the stall owner's condition, Kronos knew that this thing must be quite valuable.

Kronos held the green crystal, about the size of a little fingernail, and examined it closely before asking, "Boss, what is this thing? It looks quite nice and unique."

The stall owner was quite talkative. "Now that you mention it, I know you're not from the Rorsted Archipelago. Anyone who's lived here for more than three years would know what this is."

"It's said that this stuff is only produced on Blue Mountain Island, and there's only one mine. At first, we all called it Green Crystal, just an ordinary stone, and it wasn't worth much."

"But later, because it was beautiful and rare, some wealthy people started buying and hoarding it. Then nobles began collecting it as an object of appreciation, and it was renamed the Heart of Life."

"Because of this, the value of this green stone has skyrocketed. What used to cost one soli a pound is now worth one hundred pounds a pound. Isn't that outrageous?"

Listening to the Boss's explanation, Kronos understood. It was just a rare and beautiful stone, which was good. If it really worked, he could get a batch through Governor George. He believed the Governor had the power to do so.

"How much is this? It looks quite nice. I'll just keep a small piece for my collection." Kronos didn't use the Power of Time to test the stone, but that didn't stop him from buying it. Whether it was useful or not, keeping a piece wouldn't make a difference.

"Five pounds! That's a little above market price, but you won't find it anywhere else."

Without saying a word, Kronos handed over the money.

He left the stall with the Heart of Life, then found a corner. Kronos used his Cloak to cover his hand holding the stone, and then the Power of Time flowed.

Sure enough, Kronos discovered that the stone did indeed resonate with the Power of Time, albeit very faintly.

If other materials have an affinity of 80 or higher for the corresponding force, then the affinity of this Heart of Life would be at most 10.

But this is at least a breakthrough. Kronos has tried hundreds of materials, and this is the first one that can resonate with the Power of Time.

With affinity, one can use it to cast Spell; it's just a matter of using more. Other Spell only require a small pinch of materials, but this one might require a whole handful.

Although it's a bit expensive, is the Argel Family short of money?

Afterwards, Kronos suppressed his excitement and continued to look at the remaining stalls.

It wasn't that Kronos wasn't in a hurry to go back and experiment with Time Magic; the main problem was, what if he saw this material again at the next stall? Or what if he discovered an even better material?

He wouldn't be staying in Bayam for long; this underground trading market might be his last. He had to see it through to the end so he wouldn't have any regrets.

So Kronos patiently looked at each of the remaining stalls one by one.

Although there wasn't anything particularly valuable, at least it wasn't a waste of time.

Kronos did find a few usable materials, and the prices here were dirt cheap compared to the Argel Family's acquisition price.

Finally, after thoroughly exploring all the stalls, Kronos left the market and returned to the Fragrant Tree Leaves Bar via the stairs.

Not to mention that Kronos's mind is currently focused on the new Time Magic, even when he's bored, Kronos doesn't like the atmosphere in the Bar.

So Kronos didn't order any wine. Instead, he looked around and decided that after finding Gner, he would say goodbye to him and then go back to the Inn.

Based on Kronos's understanding of Gner, Gner should be located in the most lively part of the Bar.

Sure enough, Kronos turned his gaze to the most crowded spot and immediately spotted Gner.

He was talking loudly to a group of people around him, holding a large glass of beer in his hand.

Without lingering, Kronos squeezed his way into the crowd, eventually reaching Gner's side.

"Gner, you can continue playing here. I'll head back now; I have something to do," Kronos said, patting Gner on the shoulder.

Gner turned his head and saw it was Kronos. He nodded, knowing that Kronos disliked this environment, so whether "something came up" was an excuse or not didn't matter.

After informing Gner, Kronos returned to the Inn alone.