Chapter 113 Black Market (Part 2): Water Elemental Stones, Jade Gambling
"Water elemental stone? That's not easy to get."
Rick frowned slightly, but his hair was so thick that it was difficult to see his facial expression.
What quality do you want?
"Anything is fine."
Regarding the quality of the elemental stones, Lei had done his research beforehand and was able to answer Rick's questions to some extent.
"What is it used for?"
"Healing."
"Ah, that's not easy to get. If it's for other purposes, I do have a small piece on hand, but it's not pure enough for healing. I can help you inquire, but the most basic water elemental stones for healing will cost at least this many."
Rick held up one with his finger, and Ray knew this was definitely not a cheap price like ten gold coins.
"One hundred gold coins?"
Rick nodded.
Temuqi glanced at Laiyi. He knew Laiyi's general situation and was certain that Laiyi couldn't come up with so many gold coins all at once, so he took the initiative to help Laiyi out of the predicament.
Are there any other options?
Timur asked Rick.
"Perhaps you could try your luck at the stalls; you can buy them there too. Or you could check out that shop at the end of the street; they've recently started a little game called 'stone gambling,' which I heard originated from Eton City."
"Thank you."
Ray thanked him politely, and Rick stroked his beard.
"I wasn't much help, no need to be polite."
Timur settled his accounts with Rick and received a small pouch full of coins, which he casually slipped into his inner pocket. Sure enough, several energy stones had appeared in his animal skin bag when he left.
As the two went outside, Lai noticed that Temuqi's shrunken animal skin bag had attracted a lot of attention.
They knew that Timuch and Lai must have done a big deal with Kinrike, and that bag might contain the gold coins they had earned in that transaction.
But judging from the axe tucked into the dwarf's waist, he was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
They stared greedily at the two, their hearts pounding with desire, yet they dared not make a move.
The guards in "Corinne" aren't just sitting idly by; they'll have to wait until those two leave before they can take any action...
"It seems like someone is watching us."
Lei reminded Timur.
"Don't worry about it. If they dare to make a move, my axe will definitely give them a good beating."
Having acted alone for many years, Temujin still possessed this confidence.
The black market had a poor overall environment; it was dark and damp, with many unidentified marks on the ground, but this did not dampen people's enthusiasm.
The roadside stalls sell all sorts of things.
Monsters, magical plants, dried small monster carcasses, various animal bones, teeth, horns, and hides—you can imagine the smell here.
The two passed by several stalls selling these kinds of products, which must be best-selling items.
After wandering around for a while, they finally came across a reasonably reliable stall run by a skinny orc.
The reason we are so sure he is an orc and not some other race is because his frizzy tail is wrapped around his leg.
His stall had many weapons and ores, and Ray only recognized hematite and azurite among them, because they were the easiest to distinguish.
Hematite ore exhibits an unconventional shape and a bright surface color; while azurite possesses a very vibrant azure blue color.
According to Temuqi, most of the ores displayed at this stall are very common alchemical materials, and they are all raw stones, which are troublesome to process. They are only suitable for practice or for displaying on shelves as decorations.
Good things are meant to be hidden and not easily revealed. Temuqi had traded with him once or twice and naturally knew some of his secrets. The orc boss was definitely hiding some valuable materials. It was entirely possible that he might suddenly pull out an elemental stone from some unknown corner.
"Hey, orc."
“Oh, my creative dwarf friend, whatever materials you need, you can buy them here. Even if you can’t find them here, I can help you find them.”
The orc smiled slyly; his behavior was nothing like that of his straightforward kin.
Judging from the shape and color of his tail, Lai strongly suspected that he was a fox-type beastman.
Do you have any water elemental stones here?
Temuji cut straight to the point, not wanting to waste any more time with him.
“Elemental stones? Of course. They’re valuable items, and in the mage community, they’re an essential form of currency.”
The orc vendor glanced at Lai, certain that he was the real buyer.
"However, it does exist."
The orc paused.
"What's wrong? Is there some difficulty?"
Temujin was really annoyed by people who always left things unsaid.
"Yes, we do have them, but not the water element stone you need. I'll have to get one from someone else specifically for you."
How many gold coins do you want?
"Ray asked."
The orc vendor looked Rai up and down, noticing his slightly short mage robe and the coarse cloth trousers underneath. Rai had walked here with Temuji after finishing his work, and there was still mud on the edges of his shoes.
The orcs assumed that Lai didn't have much money and were unwilling to take the risk of doing business with him.
His eyes darted around, and he realized that Ray might have deliberately dressed in such a low-key manner. Besides, with the wealthy and generous dwarf as guarantor, he shouldn't be unable to come up with even a single gold coin.
"Seventy gold coins and one ordinary water element stone."
Ordinary elemental stones mean they contain little energy, but their quality is sufficient to meet the needs of the vast majority of people.
The orc vendors offered prices lower than Kinrike's, but the quality was not guaranteed and could not be compared.
In fact, let alone seventy gold coins, even fifty gold coins would be difficult for Ray to come up with right now.
Ray had anticipated that black market prices would be inflated, but he hadn't expected them to be this high. Thirty gold coins would have been a reasonable price...
"Your price is too high."
Temuqi knew some of the market rates and pointed them out directly in front of the vendor.
Jin Ruike's products are all of high quality, so a higher price is understandable. But for a small vendor to charge such a high price for an ordinary elemental stone is simply ripping off customers.
"Let's go."
Temuqi turned and left with Laiyi.
"Hey, hey, sir, we're open to discussing prices! How about sixty gold coins?"
Seeing that the two showed no signs of stopping, the vendor continued to quote prices.
"Fifty gold coins! That's the lowest I can offer!"
Temuji didn't even turn his head.
The vendor was dishonest in his business dealings, and he didn't want to argue with him any further.
Before setting off, Lai had revealed his maximum price range, and Temuji knew that this trip was just to check prices, not to make a purchase. Therefore, he confidently refused the vendor and did his best to show Lai around and let him see as much as possible.
"That vendor definitely doesn't have anything good. Don't believe him."
Temuqi's tone was somewhat angry.
"I know, there's no need to argue with him."
"Hmm. Let's go check out that 'jade gambling' stall."
The two were not in a hurry, and walked and looked around as they headed towards the end of the street.
Perhaps due to his wood-elemental mage perception, Lai keenly sensed that a small shop was emanating a very strong wood element.
He glanced at it curiously; the shop was dark, with no lights or candles.
It doesn't actually need these lights to illuminate the storefront.
For some unknown reason, the plants in the shop were emitting various colors of fluorescence. The light dust surrounding the fluorescent plants added an eerie and mysterious aura, making them stand out from the rest of the street.
Lei silently made a note of it, deciding that he would definitely come back to this shop to find out more in the future.
Timur walked ahead, with Rae following behind him—the dwarf's pace was always very fast.
As the two passed by a small, unassuming stall in a corner, the crystal ball on the stall suddenly flashed.
This doesn't mean anything, but the woman sitting behind the crystal ball suddenly looked up for some reason, staring intently at Temuji and Lai who had already walked past, her eyes filled with disbelief and curiosity.
She seemed to have made some discovery beyond her comprehension.
The woman got up, wanting to chase after the dwarf and the mage, but there were too many people on the street, and she disappeared in a flash.
Perhaps this is also the guidance of God.
The woman tried to calm herself down, attempting to soothe her overly agitated emotions, but the expression on her face betrayed her true thoughts.
Next time I see that person, I absolutely cannot let him get away again! Why did the crystal ball fluctuate when that person passed by? This doesn't make sense!
Why? Why on earth?!
How big could a space that's only a few hundred meters long be? The main street of the black market is only a few hundred meters long, and Lai and Timur quickly arrived at the end of the street.
The shop, which was supposedly a place where you could gamble on stones, was surrounded by a large crowd, mostly just there to watch the spectacle; not many of them were actually buying anything.
Lai was tall, so he could see inside the crowd even from the back. Poor Temuji, who was short, could only see the backs of the heads of the people in front of him even when he was standing on tiptoe.
"Inside there was a staircase-shaped display shelf with about thirty stones on it. It cost three gold coins to choose the stone you wanted. After you chose it, it was cut open on the spot, and whatever came out was what you got."
Lei explained what he had seen to Timur.
"Isn't this like having a cheat code for an earth-type ability user?"
Lei was afraid that Temuji would feel stifled if he couldn't see anything, so he chatted with him casually.
"The boss must have some method."
"Yes, this friend is absolutely right."
The man standing in front of them turned to Temuqi and struck up a conversation. He figured he couldn't see anything anyway, so chatting with someone would be good. Besides, he definitely knew more than these two country bumpkins.
"I heard the boss made a little gadget that blocks magic; it can disable magic within a certain range."
"This thing is rare."
Temugi's addiction to researching new things has returned.
How long has this stall been open?
Temu asked a strange question.
"It will take about ten days."
"What kind of things were extracted?"
"Crystals, energy stones, agate, metal ores, you name it, they have it. I heard you might even find elemental stones inside. Just yesterday, a fire mage found a huge energy stone, and wow, he immediately exchanged it for a whole bag of gold coins at Kinrik's."
The man spoke with such fervor that spittle flew everywhere, as if he himself were the one going to break the stone.
"You saw it with your own eyes?"
Temugi didn't believe it and asked skeptically.
"Of course! I arrived early yesterday and stood in the front row."
The man boasted about it with great enthusiasm.
"Someone has gone to pick stones."
Lei interrupted the middle-aged man who was bursting with enthusiasm for his speech, and Temuji looked embarrassed but had no choice but to reply. The middle-aged man turned around, trying to squeeze to the front, and Temuji finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"The man spent six gold coins to buy two stones."
Lai gave Timur a live broadcast. Soon, the clanging sound of cutting stone could be heard from inside.
"What was the result?"
The sound stopped, and shouts arose from the crowd. Temuji asked Laiyi anxiously, as if he himself were the one gambling on the jade.
"The first stone contained transparent white crystal; the second stone contained a piece of jade about the size of a bird's egg of poor quality. No wonder it took so long to polish."
"I lost a bit, I lost a bit."
The uncle ultimately failed to squeeze in, but upon hearing Ray's live commentary, he remarked...
"I'll take one!"
A voice came from the crowd, and the crowd parted to make way for the hunter who wanted to give it a try.
Soon after, the sounds of clanging and banging filled the air again.
"Wow!"
A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd.
"How about it?"
"How about it?"
Two voices came from beside Lai at the same time, and there were some passersby nearby who were listening intently to hear the results.
"It looks like a gold nugget the size of a fist was found."
Lei frowned, speaking with some uncertainty.
He remembered that gold wasn't mined like this; there was all sorts of random things mixed up inside this rock.
"A five-pound piece of gold!"
It must be the stall manager shouting, trying to attract more people to buy stones from him.
"Eighteen stones left, first come, first served!"
Lei sensed that Temuji was getting restless.
A heated discussion broke out among the crowd, and after a while, another person finally stepped forward.
"Half a pound of precious rare stones!"
"Wow!"
This time the discussion grew even louder, and the crowd celebrated the lucky winner as if it were New Year's Day.
"That's rare stone! My god is rare stone! Even if you only have half a pound and can't make any big parts, it's still rare stone!"
Temugi was caught up in a state of excitement.
"Ah, no wonder your dwarf friend is so excited. That's a very precious alchemical material, and it's practically impossible to buy it in our small town."
Should I give it a try?
Temuqi was eager to try.
Lai Yi thought that the guy who opened the rare stone was definitely a shill hired by the stall owner, because no one wanted to continue trying for a long time, and everyone around was just watching the excitement, so opening something valuable was meant to stimulate everyone's emotions.
Even if that wasn't a shill, the best stuff inside has probably already been taken, so there's not much point in trying again.
"I!"
Before Lai could stop them, Temuji had already shouted. The crowd turned to look at them and made way for them.
Lei made a bet that this one word had exhausted all of Temuji's courage.
For someone as introverted as Temuji to actively expose himself in a crowd is definitely due to overwhelming temptation and the influence of adrenaline.
That's what he was thinking, but he had already said it. Lai followed Temuqi to the front row, along with the middle-aged man from the street.
"Together, together."
The uncle explained with a smile that he actually just wanted to get a front-row seat and watch the excitement.
"Pay here."
Temuqi took out three gold coins and handed them to the stall owner.
"You can start choosing now."
Lai decided in his heart that if Temuji got carried away, he would definitely stop him.
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