บท 94: Chapter 94: Depths Behind the Facade
Though not entirely certain, Sunan speculated that the aliases chosen by the members of Forest Cabin likely had some connection to their abilities. For example, Night Owl had used an owl as a proxy during his previous visit to Sunan.
Rose's traded items were consistently magical plant seeds or potions, suggesting expertise in magical plant cultivation and potion-making.
As for Remains, his abilities likely related to necromancy, a theory supported by his keen interest in the Spiked Wingless Dragon skeleton.
For the guy who had been antagonistic since the meeting began, Sunan intended to give him a hard time. With Sunan present, Remains would find no success in trading during this gathering.
Sunan was confident in his advantage.
In terms of resources, he believed no one present could match him.
Of course, Sunan's interest in the Spiked Wingless Dragon skeleton wasn't purely to spite Remains. As a draconic subspecies, its bones could benefit the Hidden Dragon, strengthening its skeletal structure and enhancing its bloodline.
After securing the skeleton, Sunan suddenly asked Red Heart, "Do you have dragon blood? Or blood from a draconic subspecies?"
Red Heart hesitated, then nodded, producing a glass vial filled with crimson liquid.
"This is Spiked Wingless Dragon blood."
Sunan's eyes lit up.
The Hidden Dragon's bloodline was nearing 90% purity, and acquiring this dragon blood, combined with the skeleton, might elevate its bloodline to that of a draconic subspecies.
This was a must-have!
Sunan asked, "What do you want in exchange?"
Unexpectedly, Red Heart shook his head and said:
"I'm not trading this blood."
He opened his other hand to reveal a yellow-brown eyeball.
"This is something I acquired by chance. It seems to be a magical item, containing dense energy particles, but I can't activate it."
"If anyone can identify it, I'll give them the dragon blood."
The others grew curious at Red Heart's proposition.
Night Owl offered, "Can I take a look?"
Red Heart handed the eyeball to Night Owl.
Night Owl scrutinized it for some time, attempting to inject mental power, but the eyeball remained inert.
Eventually, he sighed, returned the item, and said, "Sorry."
Seeing that even the knowledgeable Night Owl couldn't identify it, Rose and Remains lost interest.
Sunan then said, "Let me try."
Red Heart glanced at him, handing over the item.
Remains scoffed, "If Night Owl can't, what makes you think you can?"
Ignoring him, Sunan focused on examining the item.
Though Night Owl, Red Heart, and Rose said nothing, they doubted Sunan could discern anything.
To everyone's surprise, Sunan soon set the item down, smiling. "Coincidentally, I recognize this."
They were all taken aback.
Red Heart quickly asked, "Really?"
Sunan returned the item, explaining leisurely, "It's called the Eye of the Rainbow, from a Rainbow Monster. It emits rainbow-like light. You could call it a magical item, as it's inherently magical."
The group was perplexed.
Neither the Eye of the Rainbow nor Rainbow Monsters were familiar terms.
However, they recognized the Rainbow Glow, a second-circle spell inducing illusions in its targets, though none had mastered it.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Remains sneered.
Sunan shot him a dismissive look, like watching a clown, angering Remains further.
Before he could retort, Sunan told Red Heart, "Try soaking it in a mixture of Dream Flower and animal blood for five minutes."
Night Owl added, "I have owl blood."
Rose produced a pale purple flower, "I have a Dream Flower."
Seeing this, Red Heart didn't hesitate and proceeded to test the method.
Having been unable to use the item, he might as well try Sunan's suggestion.
The owl blood and Dream Flower quickly submerged the eyeball. After five minutes, Red Heart retrieved it, finding it transformed.
The once yellow-brown eye now shimmered with rainbow colors.
The beautiful hues left the apprentices momentarily dazed, then they regained composure, looking at Sunan in astonishment.
It was true!
Exactly as he described!
Remains was dumbfounded, unable to believe Sunan not only recognized the item but knew how to activate it.
How bizarre!
Was this guy more knowledgeable than Night Owl?
Red Heart beamed at the Rainbow Eye, eagerly handing the dragon blood to Sunan.
"Thank you. As promised, the dragon blood is yours."
Sunan accepted it gladly.
"You're well-versed, Lord Player," Rose said with a smile.
Night Owl nodded in agreement.
When Sunan had immediately recognized the trading house, Night Owl assumed he had stumbled upon the information in a book. Now, it was clear Sunan was truly knowledgeable.
It was hard to imagine someone who had only recently become a wizard apprentice knowing so much.
Considering Sunan's abundant resources, Night Owl couldn't help but wonder if another wizard apprentice organization backed him.
Remains sat silently, saying nothing.
Not all powerful wizards were knowledgeable, but knowledgeable wizards were rarely weak.
Knowledge is power, after all.
Initially, Remains had dismissed Player as a newly advanced level 3 apprentice, despite his victory over Heb.
Now, he found Player more inscrutable.
After appraising the Rainbow Eye, Red Heart indicated his trading was done.
Night Owl glanced at Remains, who remained silent, then said with a smile, "I'll go next."
To Sunan's surprise, Night Owl produced a batch of fist-sized eggs.
"These are Red-Eyed Crow eggs."
"Red-Eyed Crows are swift, enduring, and possess long-range, wide-area vision, perfect for patrol and surveillance."
"I have 45 eggs here, along with my Red-Eyed Crow breeding manual. Anyone interested?"
Red-Eyed Crows!
Sunan's interest piqued.
These magical creatures were indeed suited for base patrol and surveillance.
Though his base had Stone Golems, they were too few and cumbersome to cover the entire area.
With a batch of Red-Eyed Crows working with the Stone Golems, base security would improve significantly.
His mind made up, Sunan said, "I'll take them. What do you want in exchange?"
"Magic stones," Night Owl replied without hesitation. "45 eggs and the manual for ten magic stones."
Sunan shook his head, "Six stones."
They were eggs, not mature crows, and he'd have to incubate and raise them, so they weren't worth ten stones.
"Eight stones."
"Seven stones."
Night Owl hesitated, then nodded, "Deal."
Another trade complete.
Now only Sunan and Remains hadn't presented items for exchange.
With everyone watching, Remains forced a smile and pointed to two micro soul crystals on the table, "These are what I'm trading."
Night Owl, Red Heart, and Rose exchanged glances.
They had already traded with Sunan and had nothing left that matched the crystals' value.
Seeing the others unmoved, Remains's expression darkened, and he glanced at Sunan, who smirked back, before angrily stashing the crystals away.
Night Owl cleared his throat and turned to Sunan, "Player, do you have anything to trade?"
"Of course."
Sunan smiled, waving his hand as over a dozen magic stones appeared on the table.
The display left Night Owl and the others amazed.
He had already traded over a dozen stones and now produced more.
How many magic stones did Player have?
If it weren't impossible, they'd think he had a magic stone mine.
"I'm looking for wizard tomes, gems, and rare metals. If you have any, feel free to trade."
Night Owl, Red Heart, and Rose perked up.
If Sunan had requested other items, they might not have had them, but wizard tomes and gems were staples for apprentices.
Wizard tomes could be copied, and gems could be bought with gold coins.
Neither was particularly rare, making them ideal for trading for magic stones.
The three eagerly brought out various tomes and gems.
Sunan carefully selected, discarding duplicates, and acquired the rest.
He accepted all gems without hesitation.
To Sunan's surprise, Rose presented over 300 gems at once.
Though all mid-to-low-grade, it was an impressive haul.
Heb had only had over 100 gems.
"She's either from a noble family or has ties with a royal family," Sunan thought, eyeing Rose.
Additionally, Red Heart and Night Owl each offered nearly a hundred gems.
Sunan was delighted to find Red Heart had three rare metals for the magic rune core, materials he lacked, so he took them all.
In total, Sunan acquired over 300 tomes, 500 gems, and three rare metals.
And he paid less than 200 magic stones.
Night Owl and the others felt the trade was worthwhile, exchanging tomes and gems for valuable magic stones.
Sunan felt it was equally worthwhile, using low-cost stones for tomes and gems.
Both parties considered the deal a success.
A win-win situation!
The only dissatisfied participant was Remains, sitting isolated in the corner.
From the start of the gathering, he had traded nothing, all snatched by Sunan.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to seek reconciliation with Sunan.
Throughout the meeting, he felt like an outsider.
Watching the others with their magic stones, Remains regretted antagonizing Player.
After the trades, Red Heart and Rose were noticeably warmer toward Sunan.
Sunan had proven his substantial resources.
In a single gathering, he had produced over 200 magic stones, something even the most resourceful member, Scepter, couldn't do.
With such a well-endowed member, they were eager for future resource trades.
As the meeting concluded, Sunan listed rare metals, promising to trade for any on the list at the next gathering.
Red Heart and Rose readily agreed, planning how to gather more metals.
Soon, only Night Owl and Remains remained in the cabin.
Seeing Remains's gloomy demeanor, Night Owl sighed, "Heb's death was his own doing, not Player's fault. You shouldn't trouble him."
"You saw it yourself. Player's resources are deeper than expected. His joining benefits Forest Cabin."
"I advise you, if you want more resources, try to get along with Player."
Remains sat silently for a moment before speaking, "Aren't you curious where Player's magic stones come from? How many apprentices have hundreds of stones?"
"What if you knew? You plan to take them from him?"
Night Owl replied meaningfully.
"Don't forget, even as a level 2 apprentice, Player killed Heb. Now, as a level 3, he's stronger. Do you think you can beat him?"
Remains hesitated, unable to argue.
"Even if you could beat him, how can you ensure getting the stones? Are they his, or traded from someone else?"
"If it's the latter, we'd lose a source of magic stones."
"We can trade peacefully with Player for stones. Why risk a thankless task?"
Remains fell silent again.
After a while, he stood and said, "I understand. Forget I mentioned it."
With that, Remains vanished.
Night Owl shook his head, looking at Sunan's former seat, deep in thought.
Despite his investigation, Night Owl found Sunan increasingly enigmatic after two encounters.
Now, even he couldn't gauge Sunan's depth.
"A twenty-year-old level 3 apprentice, the depths behind him are indeed profound."
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