Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.20 Regular Exchange Festival (2)

Leon changed into a different robe and took the opportunity to pick several types of herbs, placing them in his subspace pocket. He had no intention of selling them immediately.

This was Leon’s first time engaging in a trade between mages. Being ignorant of the market prices, he planned to use this chance to learn and attempt a trade if he found something appealing. If the trade was satisfactory, he could avoid the hassle of exchanging for mana stones.

Leon, having emerged from the orb, adjusted his robe and set his rank to the 1st rank. Although he couldn’t completely conceal his face, it was enough to hide his status as a general disciple.

Selling magical items wasn’t much different from a regular market street. The usual merchant buildings occupied their spots, along with tents and stalls scattered around. The tents were set up by other merchant groups taking advantage of the festival, while the stalls were laid out by individual mages mainly for bartering.

Leon wandered around the market street, comparing the shouted prices and those written in front of the stalls to get a sense of the market rates. Most of the items were graded F to D. There were a few C-grade artifacts, but higher grades were hard to find. It seemed there was a separate method for trading higher-grade items.

An F-grade elixir could be bought for 50 mana stones. When Leon worked alongside his duties after a year, he received one mana stone per month from the Magic Tower. This meant a general disciple had to work for 50 months to buy a single elixir.

When Leon was a tri-attributes constitution, he consumed over 50 F-grade elixirs to advance from the 1st to the 2nd rank. Although most of them were F- grade due to the low initial reward probability, it still cost him 2500 mana stones by simple calculation. This was an expense that an average apprentice mage couldn’t afford. Moreover, the effectiveness of F-grade elixirs sharply decreased in the latter part of the 3rd rank.

Leon had become an all-attributes constitution, which increased the efficiency of the elixirs.

“I have… 32 F-grade elixirs.”

He had 10 elixirs left from rewards and 22 he had manufactured himself without consuming them after reaching the latter part of the 3rd rank. Since Leon no longer needed them, selling them all wouldn’t be an issue. The problem was how to sell them.

Having a good grasp of the market prices, Leon stopped in front of a tent. A wooden sign above the tent indicated that herbs were for sale. Intrigued, Leon lifted the tent flap and entered.

An old man wearing glasses noticed Leon and tilted his head in curiosity. With his heightened sensitivity to mana flow as an all-attributes constitution, Leon realized that the old man was raising his mana to gauge Leon’s rank.

Expecting this reaction, Leon pretended not to notice and examined the wooden boxes laid out in front of the old man. Most of the herbs stored in the boxes were familiar to Leon. They were ingredients for F-grade and E-grade elixirs.

Leon’s eyes widened at the sight of one particular herb.

‘Little Sunflower!’

It was essential for making E-grade elixirs but was the only herb Leon couldn’t find in the herb forest. As he looked around the stall, a good idea came to Leon. He pointed to the box containing the Little Sunflower. The old man reacted immediately upon seeing this.

“Ho… It seems you have knowledge of elixir making. You picked it without hesitation.”

“I found what my master has been looking for, so there’s no reason to hesitate.”

Leon subtly hinted that he was training under a master and asked,

“How much does it cost?”

“Just give me 700 mana stones.”

Despite his casual tone, the old man looked at Leon as if questioning whether he could afford it. 700 mana stones were roughly the price of two E-grade elixirs. The old man was asking for the price of two elixirs for one of the five herbs needed to make an E-grade elixir.

Although Leon felt the price was steep, he didn’t point it out.

“How about exchanging it for other herbs?”

“Other herbs? Sorry, but this one is in perfect condition, including the stem. If planted in the right environment and well cared for, it will even propagate on its own.”

Leon took out another herb needed for making E-grade elixirs, one that wasn’t available at the stall. He had just freshly dug it up before entering the market, so it was naturally vibrant down to the roots.

“Hmm…”

The old man’s eyes sparkled as he closely examined the herb in Leon’s hand.

“It’s in good condition for something not properly stored. If you give me two of the same quality, I’ll exchange them for one Little Sunflower.”

“Two?”

“If it’s just one, there’s no need to trade. The Little Sunflower is a rarer herb.”

It made sense. Although Leon would be at a disadvantage, the reasoning was sound. Of course, this disadvantage was only general. For Leon, who grew herbs in large quantities within his orb, this loss was insignificant. Acquiring new herbs was more important.

However, Leon hesitated instead of readily agreeing. The old man, sensing Leon’s predicament, asked,

“Do you only have one herb? Unfortunately, my offer won’t change.”

Leon sighed and took out another herb.

“Though I’m giving these in exchange for what I want, what can I do? My master’s errands come first.”

The old man smiled broadly.

“A dutiful disciple, indeed.”

Leon’s words weren’t just an attempt to haggle. They were meant to prevent the old man from suspecting that Leon had more herbs and harboring any ulterior motives.

After exchanging two herbs for one Little Sunflower, Leon left the tent.

‘This should be enough for today…’

Leon had spent quite a while in the market in his current appearance. Buying various items in the same guise might attract the attention of other mages.

‘There’s no need to rush to sell things.’

The exchange festival was scheduled to last for a week anyway. The second day featured duels between personal disciples, the third day had duels between academy apprentice mages, and the fourth day had duels between academy affiliated secret mages. After that, a festival would be held.

Leon thought it would be best to come back once more to check the prices of elixirs and scrolls, and then gradually start selling. As he retraced his steps, he noticed a modest stall beside a tent. A man with his arms crossed was sitting there, dozing off with his eyes closed. In front of him was a single item—a plain, light brown wooden sword. It was so unremarkable for an artifact that it piqued Leon’s interest.

Leon approached the man. Sensing his presence, the man with disheveled black hair opened his eyes.

“Is this for sale?”

“It is.”

Though his tone was curt, the fact that he didn’t immediately drop formalities upon seeing Leon’s face showed a degree of politeness.

“Is it an artifact?”

“I don’t know.”

“Pardon?”

“I found it while working as a mercenary in the western Beast Forest. No matter how hard I struck it, it wouldn’t break, so I figured it must be something unusual.”

“It doesn’t break no matter how hard you strike it?”

The man nodded firmly.

“Indeed. No matter what you do, it won’t break. It’s a weapon whose sturdiness I can guarantee.”

“…Is that all?”

“That’s why I haven’t been able to sell it and have been lounging around here.”

It was unclear whether he intended to sell it or not. Leon’s initial interest in buying it waned slightly due to the man’s indifferent attitude.

“How much?”

“You want to buy it?”

“Yes, if the price is reasonable. I have an interest in collecting antiques.”

“You’ve had an odd hobby since you were young.”

The man’s sarcastic tone was oddly infuriating. Leon stared at him without saying anything further. The man glanced at Leon and then handed over the wooden sword, implying that Leon should appraise it.

Leon used an appraisal spell to examine the wooden sword’s abilities.

“I can’t detect any abilities.”

If the man’s words were true, the wooden sword’s only notable feature was its sturdiness. It was strange for wood to be this hard, but…

“Wait.”

Upon closer inspection, Leon noticed something unusual. There was a very faint, foreign mana flow around the wooden sword.

“Is there really something special about it?”

As Leon pondered, the man spoke abruptly.

“250 mana stones.”

“I don’t have mana stones. How about exchanging it for something else?”

“Something else?”

“I have some elixirs given to me by my master.”

“Hmm… 5 F-grade elixirs.”

Leon shook his head. He had identified that there was something special about the wooden sword, but that was a fact only he had discerned.

“Expecting 5 F-grade elixirs for just a sturdy stick suggests you don’t really want to sell it.”

“Can’t you see it has hidden abilities?”

“Isn’t it because you couldn’t figure out those hidden abilities that you’re selling it like this?”

“…You have keen insight for someone so young.”

The man extended his index and middle fingers towards Leon.

“Two.”

“Hmm…”

“Take a gamble on the possibility. After all, aren’t you buying it with some expectation? I can’t sell it for less, so think carefully before you decide.”

The man seemed unwilling to give up on the last possibility. That must be why he had been unable to sell this wooden sword and had been lounging around.

After some deliberation, Leon nodded. Having completed his final transaction, Leon changed his clothes and returned to his lodging. His fellow general disciples, who shared the same room, were still out, leaving Leon alone in the room.

Seeing this as a good opportunity, Leon took out the wooden sword and examined it from various angles. When he tried to levitate the wooden sword with basic telekinesis, he was startled to find that it didn’t respond.

‘I had planned to use it with the Moonlight Scattering Sword later.’

Frustration surged within him, but Leon forced himself to calm down. After all, the Moonlight Scattering Sword was still incomplete. Resigned, he tried various methods manually. Just as he had experimented with the Orb of Time and Space, he tried different approaches, but to no avail.

‘Is it really related to the flow of mana?’

With the wooden sword by his side, Leon sat cross-legged. As he began to regulate his breathing, something felt off almost immediately.

The flow of mana entering through his breathing felt strange. Leon stopped his breathing technique and immediately cast a detection spell. Identifying the flow of mana around him, Leon quickly found the source of the anomaly. The wooden sword was intercepting the mana that was gathering around Leon, drawing it into itself.

A belated realization struck Leon.

‘There was a reason that man gave it up so easily. It wasn’t that he didn’t notice.’

If the wooden sword was left alone, one might not notice this flow, but any mage would realize it during training. A sword that absorbed mana when kept nearby was indeed suspicious, but it was also a double-edged sword. Storing it in the subspace would result in no change, and keeping it nearby would disrupt his training.

As Leon let out a wry laugh, an idea flashed through his mind. He immediately left the room and headed to a secluded spot. Grasping the orb, Leon entered its space with the wooden sword and planted it firmly in the ground.

Ignoring the sound of Kito’s peaceful snoring, Leon sat cross-legged and attempted to resume his breathing technique. Before he could even manipulate the mana flow, the surrounding mana began to be sucked into the wooden sword.

“Wow…”

The mana being absorbed by the wooden sword grew uncontrollably. It was as if the sword had opened its mouth and was devouring the mana. The sword continued to absorb mana at an alarming rate for quite some time, even waking Kito from his sleep due to the disturbance in the mana flow.

“Let’s see how long it keeps absorbing.”

The mana within the orb’s space was inexhaustible. Even now, despite the sword’s voracious absorption, there was no sign of depletion. After about half a day, the wooden sword began to tremble as if it couldn’t handle the influx, and then suddenly stopped vibrating. A cracking sound echoed from the sword.

The surface was splitting.