As "Stars" took her seat, the gathering officially began.
"Seeker" was the first to speak.
"Everyone, I trust you all know how the Weave operates..."
"Spellcasters must establish a specific conduit to connect with primal magic, yet these primordial energies—"
Someone immediately chimed in with a rebuttal.
"No, no, no, that's not how it works at all!"
"Then what about clerics?"
"Did your tutor never teach you? Arcane magic and divine magic are completely different systems!"
"I returned from studying at the Fadelan Court Magic Academy! How could I possibly not understand this?"
"Hmph, truly laughable."
This group of wizards, not one of whom had reached Level 10, debated everything from the mechanics of spell matrices to the essence of the Weave, even touching upon deities, until the argument finally devolved into a contest of boasting about their backgrounds and worldly experience.
They argued until they were red in the face, each clearly eager to display their knowledge and intellect to win the recognition of the assembly.
Miss "Tulip," seated beside Cassius, could not make heads or tails of it, merely offering a cold scoff.
"A bunch of show-offs."
Standing behind them, however, Langpu could not resist whispering via Message, "Riddled with errors!"
"These humans are truly half-empty bottles sloshing the loudest."
He had even deployed a proverb Cassius once taught him. Had he not been forbidden from blowing his cover, he likely would have leapt into this chaotic war of words long ago.
'It seems competition among fellow wizards is fierce,' Cassius mused with amusement as he watched the flushed wizards.
Lady "Stars" also chimed in with her own insights from time to time, though she remained far calmer, offering viewpoints that were both profound and sparingly given.
'Intriguing.'
As a sorcerer, Cassius cast spells by relying on willpower and instinct rather than deep theoretical knowledge. He could only listen quietly to their bluster, extracting whatever useful information he could.
Though the talk was rife with pretentious posturing and boasting, he still felt he gleaned plenty from it.
In the end, however, these people were not genuinely erudite scholars. After arguing for just a single morning, they had emptied what little knowledge they possessed and were forced to let it rest, moving on to the next segment—trading goods.
At this, Cassius's eyes instantly lit up.
He was not like the players, slaving away day and night only to remain dirt poor; he was the lord presiding over the entirety of the Storm Heights.
Every day, kobolds and goblins hauled a steady stream of gold from the underground mines into his spacious cavern, while players gladly surrendered their meager coins in pursuit of so-called "godly gear."
A wizard codenamed "Prospector" was the first to place an item on the table: a matte black pearl.
"Pearl of Power. Allows the bearer to cast one additional spell of the 5th circle or lower each day. Bidding starts at 200 gold coins."
"210 gold coins."
The wizard codenamed "Grey Hawk" bid in a flat, calm voice.
Cassius glanced at his system panel. Confirming that it was genuinely a Rare-grade item and matching the description, he stated straightforwardly, "300 gold coins."
Grey Hawk glanced at him and fell silent.
A figure codenamed "Thoughtspeaker," who had remained silent all along, pulled a heavy bound volume from beneath his black robes and set it on the table. A pungent, acrid scent clung to it, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"This book was left behind by my forebears. I do not yet have the ability to use it, so I know little of its effects. I only hope to... fetch a fair price here."
Cassius narrowed his eyes at the tome.
He could even sense that Langpu, bound to him through bloodline, had a noticeably quickened heartbeat.
[Alchemical Compendium]
[Quality: Rare]
[A pungent, acrid smell clings to this faded, heavy bound tome, a century-old treasure handed down through generations of the Telfer family.]
[The book's metal fittings are composed of a solidified transmuted substance capable of shifting between copper, iron, lead, silver, and gold. When found, the book contained the following spells: Haste, Project Image, Flesh to Stone, Gaseous Form, Magic Weapon, and Fabricate. You may use it as a spellbook or as an arcane focus.]
'A fine treasure... Must buy!'
Cassius prepared to spend lavishly this time, even if the greedy nature of a red dragon still caused him a pang of reluctance.
He called out his offer: "500 gold coins."
This sum amounted to a fortune for minor nobility, but for heirs of major houses, it was merely a mild pinch that they could easily afford.
Seeker raised without hesitation: "700 gold coins."
"800 gold coins."
Grey Hawk joined in as well: "850 gold coins."
Yet Cassius did not hesitate, driving the bid higher: "1,000 gold coins."
Thoughtspeaker had never imagined that the relic he had dug out of his family graveyard could fetch so much. It was nearly equivalent to a barony's entire annual income. With this much gold, he could indulge in lavish decadence down south—the prospect set him flush with excitement.
"It is yours, sir!"
he blurted out, terrified the buyer might change his mind.
Cassius unhurriedly passed the tome to Langpu, who stood behind him polymorphed as an iron golem.
Once his aggressive bid concluded, silence settled over the room, broken only by faint whispers.
"Where did he come from?"
"That's a thousand gold coins..."
"Is he the scion of some duke? To toss out a thousand gold coins without blinking..."
"Probably an heir to some sorcerer bloodline, or perhaps a merchant from Port Victoria..."
...
The wares that followed were an eclectic assortment of bizarre and varied magical equipment. Entertaining as they were, Cassius found most of them somewhat superfluous.
Consequently, he made no further bids, watching the proceedings with mild amusement.
"Tentacle Rod. When held, it sprouts three fleshy tentacles from the tip."
"Can these tentacles be controlled?"
"You can direct what target they strike, but... you cannot control their specific motions or strength."
"Never mind then. Pointless."
The seller, "Black Rock," wiped away a cold sweat for some reason. Aside from the lady of ambiguous intentions who had asked, no one else showed interest in buying.
Black Rock cast a pointed look toward the deep-pocketed Cassius, but the latter merely smiled without a word.
He then looked toward "Stars." Whether a trick of the light or not, her cheeks seemed faintly flushed, yet she deliberately kept silent.
Defeated, he had no choice but to take back his treasured rod, silently lamenting his poor luck.
"Staff of Withering. Deals necrotic damage to the target."
"Cloak of the Bat. Gripping the edges of the cloak with both hands allows you to transform into a bat."
"Horseshoes of a Zephyr. Fastening four onto a horse lets it float one foot off the ground."
"Then why wouldn't I just cast Levitate?"
"Mind Lash. In the hands of a mind flayer, this weapon will strip away a creature's will to survive and devour its mind, just as if tearing the flesh from its bones."
"And in the hands of an ordinary person?" someone questioned.
The wizard who had been singing its praises so vehemently choked up, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.
"Just like an ordinary whip."
Chapter 83