Chapter 224 - Flea Market (Patreon)

“Haaah… slow night,” a man grumbled while smoking from his pipe in a dead-end alley.

Then two newcomers approached. The man inspected them from head to toe, but did not make it obvious. In his occupation, the ability to determine what kind of man he was dealing with was essential.

One was a cloaked man, face partially hidden, but he looked to still be in his teens, confident gait. The other was a beggar kid that he’d seen often down in the Underbelly.

“That’s the guy. My reward?” The beggar kid said to his walking companion.

“Patience, boy. I understand you’re a man that knows how to get things,” the cloaked youth said to the smoking man.

“That depends,” Ditan the smuggler said. “What do you need?”

Ditan didn't let down his guard but the other guy was too fast. He, who was stuck at Level 2 peak for almost two decades, was no match for Viers. He lost consciousness the moment Viers touched his forehead.

“Your head,” Viers answered.

Seeing that, the beggar kid immediately turned tail and ran. He cared not for his promised reward. Running away from the dangerous man was his number one goal. His heart skipped a beat when a ghost girl appeared in front of him.

“Sleep.”

She blew her flute and Chuck was out like a light.

Viers threw stones from his inventory onto the ground, a privacy array for precaution even though he didn’t sense anyone observing him.

Soul search!

Viers soul searched the smuggler first, then it was the kid’s turn.

His soul attainment was improving at the speed of sound. The speed of his soul search had increased significantly compared to the pre-Aletro gift. While Viers focused on the matters involving Valkut city and the Underbelly, he also ‘copied’ their other memories, their experiences.

Viers took out a 30x40 centimeter mirror that had been bought in Golding city. The Picture Room was not the only thing he spent his wealth on in that city. The mirror was called the Recordkeeper Mirror. Its function was to store information. Simply put, an external hard drive for human use.

Normally, it was used by Cultivation Schools or organizations to keep the wisdom and knowledge of its predecessors but Viers used it as his memory warehouse.

He ‘copied’ Ditan and Chuck’s memories and filled his brain with the info about the Underbelly. Its layout, its characteristics. In a few minutes, Viers was like a man that had lived for a decade in the Valkut Underbelly.

Then he ‘cut’ the irrelevant parts and ‘pasted’ them into the Recordkeeper Mirror.

The next step in the Ahura Mazda Project is to create a soul construct to manage the memories. I’m making an internet from the memories so I need a search engine to make it easy for me. In the future, I will leave even the soul search to the construct. Heheheh. I’ll say: A.I. chip, scan! It will make the ‘beep’ sound effect. I’ll have it no other way.

Viers was dreaming of the massive benefits his super project would bring him.

But there’s the Evil Overlord List number 59: I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am. Yep. Too many Fables where AIs become hostile to the creator. Must not make the same mistakes.

“Are they hurt?” Paina asked.

“Not a single scratch. Physically or mentally, ” Viers answered. “Rise.”

Ditan and Chuck stood up like unconscious zombies. Viers slipped three gold coins into their pockets.

“For the memories.”

Viers snapped his fingers in front of Ditan’s face.

“You’re gonna go to your wife, go on your knees, and beg for her forgiveness. Then you’ll stop gambling, stop drinking, and no longer hit your wife again. Ever… And stop smoking. It will kill you.”

Viers repeated the same snap to the beggar kid.

“You’ll no longer sneak down here to steal. Use the money to buy medicine for your sick mom, then use the surplus to learn how to read and write. In the future, go find honest work in the city above.”

Like an MIB agent, Viers made them forget meeting him and gave them ‘suggestions’.

Isn't this hypnotherapy? Soultherapy? I suppose I can put ‘psychiatrist’ in my CV now.

Viers left them before they recovered. Now Viers could leisurely walk the Underbelly streets with the familiarity of a local. Just as planned.

***

It was late in the night when he escaped from the city guard’s station and it hadn't been that long so the hour was not ideal for exploring. He went to an inn to get a few hours of nap until afternoon.

Then he began the Underbelly city tour.

Viers put Ditan’s knowledge to good use. He first went to a shady shop to turn the evidence items that he didn't need and turned them into cash. He kept those that might be useful as usual. The seller of illicit goods would be kept unknown by the shop; they had a good track record according to the smuggler.

“Thank you very much for your patronage.”

He ate the local delicacies and bought new clothes with this area’s style to further blend in.

Armed with a thick wallet and a full belly, now comes the main event.

The Underbelly had the shape of an inverted tower. Viers took an elevator down to the lower floor. The lower one got, the better the shop. Viers saw people using flying items instead of elevators while he was on the way. Some even climbed up and down floors using parkour moves from the outside of the tower. Since there were only simple railings and the like instead of walls, Viers questioned this place’s hazardous design.

Only Level 5 Pathseekers were able to fly using their Victa but others could achieve similar feats through other means. Viers saw a man shoot through to the upper floors like Spiderman using his webs.

I think I have already seen twenty Level 4s… So many strong Pathseekers and famous adventurers in one place. Unlike in the Book World, I’m not the top dog anymore.

“Welcome to Sandar’s Magical Curio. The best shop on the 69th floor. How can I help you?”

This was the lowest Viers could go without special membership. The shop was elite-looking. Only two Level 4s were shopping besides him.

“Do you have luck-raising items here?” Viers said.

“Certainly. The entrance fee is…”

Viers paid the equivalent of a thousand dollars just to enter the shop. It was to prevent those unable to buy from gawking over the rare items inside. The protective array in the entrance was very strong; as expected of a shop that was aimed at Level 4 Pathseekers.

Thirty minutes later.

“Please come again.”

Viers didn't buy a single thing from the shop but the entrance fee had already changed hands.

Argh, so expensive! I thought I’m rich but what the hell are those prices! Am I buying apartments or something? Damn it. My luck is bad so I need to raise it but to think I cannot even buy the cheapest one with my wealth… Change of plans then.

Viers returned to the upper floors, to the 5th floor where the entire floor was a big flea market.

But I did not lose without gaining a single thing. I had seen the real luck-raising items and remembered their mana peculiarities. Maybe I can find something similar from these sellers that do not know their value.

Harboring that hope in his chest, Viers began to browse the goods with his super eyes. He wore shades to hide his glowing green eyes when using Euryale Sight. The stalls were pretty cool, with many unique and interesting things.

People often didn't know about the things they found in the wilds. They could determine something was valuable through the mana of the object but they didn't know their effects or what they were used for. Appraising materials was a popular job and sometimes the expense of finding out the effect of the item was not worth it. People could send their goods to the shops so they could sell them but that too had drawbacks. The flea market was created for individuals to sell their goods directly.

Of course, there were valuables despite the weak or even the complete lack of mana emission. That was what Viers aimed for. He hoped to gain valuable items at a fraction of their market price.

“Old man, how much for those red rocks?” Viers asked.

“Good eye, lad. I found this in the southern dried-up river. The Red River Rock is 50 mana crystals a piece.”

“I’ll take it all!”

“Gehh,” the old man winced after seeing the buyer was not haggling. “I got skinned, did I?”

It was a lingo for selling at a loss.

“Who knows?” Viers smiled.

“Ahh, crap. There. Take it.”

The old man gave Viers fifteen of the red rocks and Viers paid the mana crystals.

“Now can you tell me what it is?”

“These are eggs from the Red Stone Fish. Their eggs are almost the same as the rocks in that river. These eggs are already dead but they are still vastly superior cultivation resources than the normal Red River Rock.”

Viers dipped his head and then walked away to the next stall. The old man then took out another ten of the red rocks that Viers just bought and upped the price. Seeing what he did, Viers and the old man exchanged grins.

Hehehe. Old man got business skills.

The most common wares in the flea market were cultivation resources. Natural magical products such as rocks, water, plants, fruits, and so on. To Pathseekers with the crafter class, these were indispensable. Potion making needed ingredients and blacksmithing needed metals or monster parts.

But common Pathseekers also had a great need for them.

Some cultivation resources were able to enhance their cultivation speed, making them able to raise their Levels faster. Some needed them for their Profound Practice, like Boram’s Profound Codex. Monster tamer classes and those with bonded companions used them to feed their partners. Futon, Faiya, and Dia were similar, they needed to eat cultivation resources to grow stronger.

Pathseeker was a very resource-heavy career.

And that’s not all. Now that I'm Level 3, I can also use cultivation resources for Arte Infusement! Oh boy, there will never be enough money, will there?

Viers combed through the various items on sale. Not only cultivation resources, he also saw weapons, armor, and magical accessories in the market. Some were made by the people selling them, some were found in ruins or perhaps the seller killed the previous owner and looted them. Viers was not one to judge.

He bought those that were a steal. He had two advantages in this. One was the Euryale sight and the second was the massive database of knowledge from hundreds of soul searched people.

But even after visiting most of the stalls, he hadn't seen a single luck-raising item.

I know those are rare cause I only found a single item concerning luck in my two years journey as a Pathseeker, three years if Aletro’s Book World was counted. But come on. There has to be something…

Then Viers’ eyes found it. In a stall that sold miscellaneous trinkets, there was a small bottle with luck mana.

“Hey, man. What's this?”

“Oh, welcome. It's called Lucky Bath Oil. Use them in a bath and it will raise your luck for a time.”

“Really? How do you know?” Viers said with a dubious face.

“Yeah, how do you know? I'm curious about it myself,” the man sighed.

This was the difficulty of finding items that were related to luck. So many fakes and people had a hard time finding the real thing. Even if it worked, did one normally feel they were luckier than before?

“Tell you what, I haven't sold anything in two days. I’ll give you a ten percent discount. The smell is really nice. Try it.”

“Hmn, it does smell nice.” Viers kept a straight face although his heart was palpitating. “Okay, here’s the money.”

Viers placed the money on the table and the man extended his arm to give Viers the bath oil.

“Enjoy your bath-”

“Wait! I’ll pay double for that thing.”

A big man approached, shoving Viers aside with his body.

Shit. Here comes the drama. Can I just punch this guy in the face and be done with it?