"Looks like today is my lucky day."
Zuo Si unceremoniously signaled the soldiers to pack the two spell books, along with the books they had bought before, into their bags.
It's not hard to tell from the lack of surprise on his face.
The reason why he was able to pick out two books worth more than 5,000 gold coins from among so many spell books had nothing to do with luck.
The woman was obviously very interested in this and asked curiously, "How did you determine the value of those two spell books? Tell me! I can give you a holy grail worth 850 gold coins for free.
It can produce three cups of holy water with the effect of [Cure Light Wounds] every day."
Hearing that there was an advantage to be gained, Zuo Si immediately smiled happily and replied: "It's actually very simple. The first spell book that was in tatters and even the edges of the pages were damaged must have had its original owner go through a fierce battle before being killed.
Around the torn edges of the books I found many signs of burns and acid corrosion.
Whoever could destroy a spell book with protective magic like this must have extremely powerful magic.
This means that the spellbook owner who is his opponent must not be too bad either."
"I see! It seems that you have keen observation skills and strong logical reasoning skills." The woman nodded slightly and praised.
However, Zuo Si did not get complacent because of the other party's praise. Instead, he continued to explain: "As for the second book, although the pages are inlaid with too many low-quality gems worth less than 10 gold coins, the first impression gives people an impression of arrogance and vulgarity.
But in fact, as long as you have studied the magic of conjuration and summoning seriously and in depth, you will realize that all these gems are arranged in a very strange and regular way.
In other words, the cover of the second book is actually a small magic circle used to enhance summoning spells.
So I concluded that its original owner must have been a very high-level wizard who specialized in spellcasting."
"Excellent! You are truly extraordinary, able to notice so many details and possess a wealth of knowledge. This Holy Grail is now yours."
The woman fulfilled her promise straightforwardly and placed a glittering gold cup inlaid with four round transparent crystals on the counter.
Judging from the blurred holy emblem on the cup, this thing should be the work of a priest.
Normally, things like these that involve the blessings of gods should be placed in the temple for believers to admire and use, and should never be taken out and sold casually.
The reason why it appeared on the market was that its original owner was probably killed, just like the original owners of those spell books.
The valuable items on his body were looted by the murderer or other bandits, and then appeared in the magic item shop in Port Calin after several twists and turns.
Zuo Si even felt that more than one-third or even more of all the magic items sold in this building were "stolen goods" of unknown origin.
But what does that matter?
Anyway, he was just here to buy what he needed.
After putting away the Holy Grail, Zuo Si picked up a book from another bookshelf that introduced the main towns, specialties, and customs of the west coast of the continent of Faerun, and an adventure book with illustrations and detailed introductions to common monsters and weaknesses in the wild.
Finally, I bought a magic map with zoom in and zoom out functions.
It is said that the map records many unknown hidden paths, underground entrances and caves.
The two books of the former only cost 460 gold coins in total.
The latter costs as much as 8,000 just for a map...
Yes!
In the continent of Faerun, the prices of maps are so outrageous.
In order to resist foreign invasion, some cities or organizations are even so extreme as to prohibit anyone from drawing maps of their sphere of influence.
Therefore, drawing maps often requires high professional skills and memory, and also carries the risk of being executed if caught.
It is inevitable that prices remain high.
Even a scribbled map of the Sea of Swords and the Sword Coast in the hands of the merchant Bernard cost several hundred gold coins to buy.
In the end, Zuo Si only got back 2,893 [Dent] gold coins issued by Am from the woman.
"Master, where are we going now? Shall we go back to the hotel and rest?" the soldier asked, carrying a much lighter bag.
"Well, let's go back. I'm a little tired and want to have a good sleep."
After saying that, the two of them returned to their residence along the same route they came, one in front and one behind.
With the continuous cooling of the environment by [Frozen Pearls], the room that was originally as hot and stuffy as a steamer soon became comfortable and pleasant.
Zuo Si took a bath, lay on the soft big bed, and flipped through the books he had just bought for a while. After a while, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
…
At the same time, at the headquarters of the Thieves Guild, three blocks away from the inn.
Apke was sitting in his own seat, listening carefully to the report from his thieves.
After a full minute, he stroked his elastic double chin and asked, "You mean, Lord Soth took his servant to the largest magic shop in Calim Port and bought a lot of books, and also sold an interesting magic item?"
The thief with short brown-black hair nodded quickly. "Yes! When I saw them trading, they piled countless gold coins on the counter. It made me want to make a fortune."
"Don't be stupid! The owner of that magic shop is not someone we can afford to offend." Apke immediately reprimanded harshly.
But soon, the bald fat man turned his gaze to the middle-aged wizard standing on his right: "Kulan! Tell me, what do you think of this Lord Soth?"
The middle-aged wizard, whose hair volume was clearly developing towards the Mediterranean trend, thought for a few minutes before shaking his head with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, Chief.
It's hard for me to make an accurate judgment until I see him in person.
But considering that he can easily transform a large number of low-level undead and can also exercise a certain degree of control, his spellcasting level should not be lower than level thirteen.
There might be some priests who work part-time for some evil gods and possess the ability to [rebuke the undead].
As for age, it is indeed possible that, as your businessman friend has inferred, he used the five-ring necromancy magic [Magic Soul Pot] to occupy a new body.
But it is not ruled out that it is the result of some transformation magic.
In short, this is an absolutely dangerous mission.
His strength should be far above mine."
"So what do you think... can we hire him in the upcoming guild war?" Apc asked in an uncertain tone.
“Hiring a powerful necromancer?
So what price are you going to pay?
You should know that he spent more than 30,000 gold coins in one go today.
With such lavish spending, ordinary prices can’t satisfy his appetite.”
The middle-aged wizard known as Kulang obviously didn't care about his leader's wild ideas.
He didn't think that a truly powerful wizard would easily accept being employed by others.
If he had not realized that his potential had been exhausted and that it would be impossible for him to go further on the path of magic, he would not have "degenerated" and associated with a group of dirty and lowly thieves.
"How do you know if you don't try? I think Mr. Soth should be easy to talk to."
Apke obviously did not give up, but planned to find an opportunity to test it out.
As for the price...
As long as they can win the guild war and expand their territory, they can pay with the money, magic items and slaves looted from the enemy.
(End of this chapter)
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