While the two were bickering in their minds, Elias's gaze was drawn to a splash of unusual color on the street.
It was an elegantly decorated shop, its massive floor-to-ceiling window crafted from a single slab of thick, polished crystal.
Behind the window, rows of crystalline glass bottles were neatly displayed on mahogany shelves.
'That's... a potion?'
Elias stepped forward curiously, his nose nearly touching the cold glass.
In the definitions of supernatural mysticism within the Kingdom of Velen, while there was a vast array of alchemical concoctions in the broad sense, the term "potion" usually carried a specific, narrower meaning—namely, spirit vision potions used to increase one's spirituality Scale.
As for other mixtures, they were typically named after their specific effects.
His gaze passed over the dazzling array of bottles and jars, finally settling on a small crystal bottle resting on a velvet cushion in the very center of the shelf.
The label was written in elegant cursive: 【Scale Two · spirit vision potion (Finished Product)】.
Elias squinted to check the price, then spun around instantly, walking twice as fast as he had arrived.
Because on the brass nameplate below, a string of numbers was engraved.
1,500 gold crowns.
"Holy crap?!"
Elias was silently shocked in his mind.
"That's so expensive!"
"He could have just robbed me outright, but instead, he's putting on this hypocritical show of selling goods!"
"I could just die!"
What did 1,500 gold crowns even mean?
In Hope County, that sum was enough to buy the deeds to the entirety of Ash Street.
He suddenly felt that the 1,000 gold crown check in Firth's hand wasn't actually that much money.
"What a fuss over nothing!"
Old Ed's disdainful voice rang out at the perfect moment.
"This is the premium on knowledge and power."
"I gave you a complete Scale One recipe for free, not to mention all sorts of priceless supernatural knowledge and historical secrets."
"And yet, you show no gratitude!"
Elias was in no mood to argue with him at the moment.
He calculated solemnly in his mind.
'If Scale Two is this expensive, won't the levels above be even more outrageous?'
"Remember, Elias."
Old Ed seemed to sense his emotions, his tone becoming serious.
"Nothing in the supernatural world is ever cheap."
"Just as potions require mountains of gold crowns to obtain, when you gain power, you must also pay a corresponding price."
"Power is accompanied by madness, and spirituality is accompanied by pollution."
"Everything has its price."
"That is the iron law."
"Fine, enough with the grand principles."
"It's not that I don't understand those truths; I'm just lamenting being poor."
Elias interrupted Old Ed's lecture, somewhat ruining the atmosphere, as he patted his thin wallet and sighed.
"The things here are too expensive; I'll just buy some things to get by."
Originally, he had thought about arming himself to the teeth, but now it seemed arming himself to the fingernails would be an achievement.
For the rest of the journey, Elias turned into a complete miser who only looked but never bought.
Along the way, he saw containment object level items costing tens of thousands of gold crowns—like a human-skin glove locked in a lead box that constantly emitted whispers.
He also saw giant elixirs priced at several hundred gold crowns a bottle.
Finally, he stopped at a relatively modest blacksmith's stall.
After a round of brutal haggling, he bought a sterling silver ritual dagger engraved with simple patterns.
The dagger was heavy in his hand, its hilt wrapped in rough shark skin, providing an excellent grip.
He also bought a silver pocket watch with intricate patterns; of course, it wasn't a particularly expensive variety.
Additionally, he bought some basic ritual materials like dreamlily powder and soothing incense from a herbalist shop.
"That will be 20 gold crowns, 9 Shillings, and 8 Fennies."
Elias's hand trembled slightly as he paid.
The small amount of money in his pocket, which hadn't even warmed up yet, instantly shrank by more than half.
This intense sense of crisis made the already cash-strapped Elias even more determined in his original goal—
Get to the Society of Freemen and find a commission to earn money!
If he didn't start earning, he wouldn't even be able to afford the ticket to enter a dream soon!
Stowing his items, Elias straightened his collar and prepared to head straight for his destination.
He looked around and locked his gaze on a figure hurrying past.
The person wore a voluminous grey cloak with a hood, and their frame seemed somewhat small.
Elias stepped forward quickly and grabbed the person's arm.
"Hello, excuse me, where is the Society of Freemen?"
The person was pulled into a stumble and whipped their head around.
Only then did Elias realize that beneath the hood was a somewhat youthful face.
It was actually a young child with two streaks of black soot on their face, their eyes as wary as a startled wildcat.
"Sorry, I'm not really sure."
The child's voice was slightly raspy, shaking their head while being stingy with their words. Taking advantage of Elias's momentary daze, they forcefully shook off his hand and slipped into the nearby crowd in a flash.
"Kids these days are so impolite..."
Elias muttered a complaint but wasn't discouraged.
He wandered through the labyrinthine alleys for a long while before finally finding the path to the Society of Freemen.
This was the deepest part of Jester Alley, the boundary between the mundane and the supernatural.
A stylish two-story building stood in the shadows.
The location of the Society of Freemen was very subtle; it was adjacent to another bustling street in the Central District and possessed two entrances.
One led to the chaotic and lawless Arcane Black Market, while the other connected to the world of ordinary people under the sun.
Just like its nature: walking the line between the black and the white.
Pushing open the heavy doors, a scent of old paper, tobacco, and machine oil wafted toward him.
The ground-floor lobby was extremely spacious, with a thick deep red carpet that muffled every footstep.
A massive crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling, illuminating the entire lobby as bright as day.
Directly facing the entrance was a massive wooden wall—the commission wall.
Near the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, a warning sign stood tall.
"The second floor is the archive room."
Old Ed introduced it in his mind.
"It's filled with all sorts of supernatural data and books."
"From what I know, the books there are incredibly valuable; every single one has been branded with an 【Arcane Mark】 by a high-level mage."
"If one is lost, the mages will track the thief to the ends of the earth through the mark."
"Of course, no one is stupid enough to cause trouble for the Society of Freemen."
Elias nodded; he had no interest in books he couldn't afford for now.
His gaze was fixed directly on the commission wall covered in sheets of paper.
The wall was densely packed with parchments of various colors, some even glowing faintly.
Elias leaned in closer, his gaze quickly scanning the complex text.
Suddenly, his vision froze.
With just one look, he was utterly captivated by the staggering numbers on one of the commission sheets.
"Missing Pet: Beloved dog went missing in the suburbs this morning; a handsome reward awaits its return!!"
"A small token of appreciation: 2,000 gold crowns."
Elias's breathing instantly quickened.
Was this some kind of telephone pole missing dog flyer?
2,000 gold crowns just to find a dog?!
This was way too extravagant!
Elias felt as if his right hand had a mind of its own, poised to rush forward and tear down that commission sheet.
Just a second before his fingertips could touch the paper...
His left brain overrode his right brain, and his remaining rationality finally seized control back from his greedy impulses.
"Take a closer look. What kind of pet is that?"
As if sensing his hesitation, Old Ed reminded him irritably.
Hearing this, Elias focused his gaze on the commission sheet again.
Just now, he had been completely blinded by that string of zeros and hadn't noticed the illustration below.
Looking closely now, he realized the illustration on the parchment was actually a moving magical image.
That was no dog.
Inside the frame, a behemoth that stood three meters tall when upright was silently roaring.
It was covered in thick, ochre-colored fur, with massive claws that could easily crush stone.
"That's supposed to be a dog?!"
Elias sucked in a sharp breath.
"That thing is a red-maned bear."
Old Ed's voice was somewhat playful.
"While this animal lacks supernatural abilities, its magic resistance is extremely high."
"Its fur can deflect low-to-mid-tier spells, and it's so thick-skinned that hitting it with a flintlock pistol is no different from a tickle."
"Furthermore, these fellows have terrible tempers and a very strong sense of territory."
"For a commission like this, any transcendent below Scale Five is just seeking death."
Elias felt a wave of lingering fear, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
He withdrew his hand with a sense of trepidation; thank goodness he hadn't been completely blinded by money.
This wasn't looking for a dog; this was looking for a grave.
He silently blacklisted the option of finding dogs in his heart and continued searching the commission wall.
However, after a full scan, he found that reality was far leaner than his imagination.
Most high-reward commissions had extremely high requirements.
He suspected the low-difficulty commissions had all been snatched up already.
Just as he was wavering before the wall of tasks...
A small figure wearing a grey hood suddenly appeared at the edge of Elias's vision.
The person was holding a new commission sheet, seemingly wanting to post it on the wall.
But awkwardly, the commission needed to be posted in a specific category area, which was higher up on the wall.
The short figure stood on their tiptoes and hopped a couple of times, yet still couldn't reach the spot, looking rather comical.
Elias looked over instinctively, his brow arching slightly.
Those clothes... why did they look so familiar?
Wasn't this the child from earlier?
Seeing the child give up after several failed attempts, they had to turn around and look somewhat awkwardly at Elias, who was standing nearby.
Perhaps because the hood obscured their face, the child didn't recognize Elias immediately.
"Hello, could you help me hang this up?"
The child held up the commission sheet.
Elias didn't take it immediately. Instead, he crossed his arms, a playful smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he leaned down slightly, bringing his face closer to the one hidden under the hood.
"Why is it you?"
The moment the child saw Elias's face, their body stiffened, and they blurted out in shock.
Elias looked down at them, his eyes full of mischief.
"I was going to ask you the same thing!"
"Didn't you say you didn't know where the Society of Freemen was?"
Rate on N.U.
