Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
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Chapter 18
"Shop category?"
A new window appeared before Zeke's puzzled eyes.
— Shop Usage List —
1. Item Purchase / Sale
2. Item Disassembly / Repair (Locked)
3. Item Enhancement (Locked)
Seeing the list in the shop category, Zeke began to ponder the true nature of the system again.
— Tutorial Mission —
[Purchase an item using the shop. (No time limit)]
"It's telling me to buy an item?"
Zeke put his curiosity aside for now and pressed "Item Purchase" as instructed in the tutorial mission.
[Displaying the list of items available for purchase by Low-rank administrators.]
As the message appeared, the screen changed, and images of items were displayed in a list, with their names and brief introductions next to them.
Zeke looked through the list of items.
"Lower Potion, Intermediate Potion, Complete Recovery Potion, Stamina Enhancement Potion, Status Abnormality Recovery Potion..."
There were dozens of potions he had never seen before.
Zeke's jaw dropped at the variety of potions.
"Oh my god. These are all enhancement potions found in ancient ruins. They're so rare that they're hard to come by."
Recovery potions had become mass-produced and widely available a hundred years ago when the alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan made his patent for refining troll blood free to the public.
However, enhancement potions, unlike recovery potions, required rare ingredients and relied heavily on the secret techniques of individual alchemists, making top-grade enhancement potions extremely expensive.
Nevertheless, modern enhancement potions were less effective than those from ancient times.
Zeke smiled broadly as he looked at the ancient enhancement potions that were difficult to buy even with money.
"Deep Breath of the Flame Giant? I remember an auction where the Breath of the Flame Giant was sold for almost a hundred gold."
Zeke clicked on the Deep Breath of the Flame Giant potion.
— Potion Information —
A potion that induces the hottest breath of the Flame Giant, which breathes inextinguishable flames. (20 points)
Zeke checked the price listed next to the information.
"20 points for one potion."
Since points could be used to acquire other skills or unlock system functions, he needed to choose carefully.
The shop items available to low-rank administrators were limited to ordinary potions, enhancement potions, low-grade scrolls containing simple magic, and low-grade rune stones.
Although they were labeled as "low-grade" in the shop window, all of them were items that could only be found in ancient ruins, making each one precious.
Zeke, as a test, purchased the 'Wings of the Sky', which could be bought with a small number of points.
It came with a description that it increased agility.
[The purchased item has been moved to your inventory.]
[5 points have been deducted.]
[Tutorial Mission completed.]
[A low-grade scroll will be randomly awarded as a reward.]
"A low-grade scroll? So the rewards aren't just points."
Zeke opened his inventory window.
A potion and a scroll appeared in the empty slots.
When he took the potion out of his inventory, a bottle filled with clear, sky-blue liquid materialized in his hand.
He also took out the scroll and checked its information; it contained the 'Shield' magic.
It seemed like he could make a huge profit by buying items from the shop and putting them up for auction.
There was an auction market specializing in such ancient artifacts in the island nation of the Dorta Republic.
It was frequented by mages from both Nirvana and the Magic Tower, making it a place where he could sell ancient items for a good price.
"If I start hunting monsters and gather a lot of Karma points, I can buy things that can be sold at high prices and put them up for auction."
It seemed like it would be useful when he left the Draker family and built his own forces.
Zeke then pressed the "Sale" option instead of "Purchase."
[Please place the item you wish to sell in the inventory window.]
He placed the claymore he was holding into the inventory window.
However, a warning message appeared.
[This item cannot be sold.]
"Huh? Why not?"
Zeke pondered for a moment, then put one of the ancient items he had laid out on the training ground floor into his inventory.
[Do you wish to sell 'Dagger Useful for Camping'? / Sale Price: 4 points]
Only ancient items could be sold in the shop.
Since all the items available for purchase were ancient items, it seemed that only ancient items could be sold as well.
"But the sale points are too low. This would fetch at least 100 gold if I sold it at the auction house."
Selling was not cost-effective.
Thinking that he would never use the "Sale" option, Zeke examined the rest.
"Disassemble" was a function that extracted raw materials from ancient items by paying a certain number of points, and "Repair," as the name suggested, was a function that restored damaged items.
Both were inefficient in terms of point consumption.
The "Disassemble," "Repair," and "Enhance" options were locked and could not be used yet.
After carefully examining the item purchase and sale list, Zeke nodded.
"I have a rough idea of how to use this. I guess the list of items I can buy will expand as I rank up from a low-rank administrator."
Zeke decided that he needed to acquire Karma points through monster hunting as quickly as possible.
After organizing his newly acquired items, he moved the artifacts to a secure storage.
Thinking that he should deposit them in the vault of the Northern Bank run by the dwarves when he had the chance, Zeke ended his day.
* * *
The next day, he went straight to Professor Paynun.
And he took out the high-compression magic stone he had brought and placed it before him.
Paynun was surprised to see Zeke actually bringing a high-compression magic stone.
"H-how did you get this?"
"It's difficult to tell you the details. When will the drive mechanism be completed? I need it as soon as possible."
At that, Paynun looked at Zeke and said,
"I've already completed the drive mechanism calculations."
This time, it was Zeke who was surprised.
"What? Already?"
"With a high-compression magic stone, the design isn't that difficult."
Zeke realized that Paynun's skills were extraordinary.
'This could be quite useful.'
He felt that Paynun was a talent wasted on being stuck as an academy lecturer.
Anyway, at the news that the drive mechanism was complete, Zeke jumped up from his seat.
"Professor. Let's go."
"Huh? Where are you talking about?"
"Where else but to make the forge?"
* * *
With the high-compression magic stone and the drive mechanism ready, the creation of the magic forge proceeded smoothly.
When Zeke called in workers to install the forge in a corner of the smithy, Gelion had an expression of disbelief.
"A-are you really making it for me? A magic forge?"
"I promised, didn't I? But there's a condition. You have to make my sword. Not just any sword, but your masterpiece."
Zeke was anxious that the young Gelion might lack the skills to create the solar sword Gram.
That's why he emphasized it to some extent, but Gelion, unaware of Zeke's thoughts, had tears in his eyes.
"My lord! You are my lifelong benefactor!"
Gelion was even more moved than when Zeke had saved his life in the previous life.
The forge installation didn't take long.
Paynun participated in the work with enthusiasm.
He held the design drawings on site and gave precise construction instructions to the workers.
Thanks to this, the magic forge was able to achieve much higher efficiency than Gelion had designed.
Whoosh!
As Paynun activated the magic drive mechanism, the forge started operating.
Gelion shed tears of joy as he looked at the blue flames emanating from the forge.
"Ah! To think that I would actually complete this forge before I die!"
Paynun was also satisfied with the completed forge.
"With this level of efficiency, it will probably last for a hundred years without any problems."
"Thank you, Professor! Thank you!"
Professor Paynun returned to the academy first due to his lectures after checking the forge.
Zeke, left alone with Gelion, spoke to him discreetly.
"Gelion. I have a favor to ask of you, but can you keep it a secret?"
Gelion excitedly pounded his chest with his fist.
"Of course! It's a request from my benefactor! I, Gelion, will take your secret to the grave."
Knowing how single-minded Gelion was from his past life, Zeke wasn't really worried about the secret leaking out.
He took out Bahamut's fang, which he had brought in a box, and placed it before Gelion.
"M-my lord, what is this?"
"It's the hardest fang of a dragon. Have you ever seen anything like it?"
Gelion was startled by Zeke's words.
"A-a dragon's fang?"
Gelion had never seen a dragon's tooth preserved so perfectly.
In fact, no blacksmith on the continent would have seen anything like it.
Zeke calmed the surprised Gelion and continued.
"Make my sword with this."
Gelion trembled at his words.
"A-are you entrusting me with this precious item?"
"Why, do you lack confidence?"
Gelion immediately jumped up from his seat.
He snorted and shouted.
"Of course not! I, Gelion, will stake my life on making your sword!"
"No, there's no need to stake your life. That's too much pressure."
As always, this single-minded blacksmith didn't know the meaning of moderation.
Excited to confirm what he had to do, Gelion examined the fang of Bahamut that Zeke had brought.
"Ha... this color, this texture."
He ran his palm over the fang and let out a rough breath.
Seeing Gelion like this, Zeke shook his head.
'In my past life, he at least had a master craftsman's aura about him. Well, it doesn't matter as long as he makes a good sword.'
Zeke slowly rose from his seat.
"Then I'll leave it to you. Make me a sword that fits me perfectly."
At that moment, Gelion stood up and approached Zeke.
"My lord. May I ask you one favor?"
Seeing Gelion speak in a suddenly serious voice, Zeke nodded.
"What is it?"
"May I look into your eyes for a moment?"
Zeke's eyebrows twitched at his words.
It was because he remembered Gelion's words from his previous life.
'Gelion, do you really read people's souls and make swords according to them?'
'I don't know about reading souls, but when I make a truly important sword, I look into the eyes of the person who will use it.'
'Their eyes? Is there a special meaning?'
'It's hard to explain in words, but when I look into their eyes, I feel something. The user's emotions, or perhaps their will? It's difficult to express accurately.'
The young craftsman before him was looking at Zeke with the same eyes as the master craftsman from the future, or perhaps even more passionately.
Zeke nodded.
"If you wish, you may do so."
Gelion carefully looked into Zeke's eyes.
After staring for a while, Gelion carefully closed his eyes.
He remained in that state for a long time, then quietly opened his eyes.
"Thank you for granting my rude request, my lord."
He immediately placed Bahamut's fang into the magic forge.
Then, without saying a word, he stared at the fang and the flames within the forge.
Seeing Gelion like this, Zeke quietly left the smithy so as not to disturb him.
'It seems I worried for nothing.'
Zeke headed back to the academy, anticipating what kind of sword would be created.
* * *
When Zeke returned to the academy and went up to the Platinum Floor, someone was sitting in the reception room.
"Old man?"
Surprisingly, Duke Draker was sprawled on the sofa, pouring a large amount of high-quality liquor into his mouth.
With a flushed face, he shouted at Zeke.
"You brat! Where have you been all this time!"
"What brings you all the way here? No, wait, how did you even get into the Platinum Floor, which is off-limits to outsiders?"
Duke opened his mouth wide and burst into laughter.
"Puhaha! You little punk, do you know who I am to say such a thing! There's nowhere I can't go in any place built by the Drakers!"
Knowing his identity, Zeke understood what he meant, but he pretended not to know and replied.
"You seem quite drunk. Why don't you go back and rest?"
Duke suddenly sat up and shouted at Zeke.
"You little whippersnapper! I left you a message, why didn't you come back!"
"I haven't felt like challenging you again yet."
"You insolent brat! If I lined up all the guys begging to learn even one thing from me, it would stretch around the central training ground!"
"Then why don't you take those people and teach them? Why do you keep coming to someone who doesn't want to learn?"
At Zeke's words, Duke gritted his teeth.
He abruptly stood up and said to Zeke,
"Fine. Let me introduce myself formally."
Whoosh!
At the same time, the alcohol fumes seeped out of Duke's body like mist.
His flushed face instantly returned to normal.
He looked down at Zeke with a serious expression and said,
"My name is Duke Draker. I was once Draker's Black Knight."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
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