Hogan City, City Square.
Hogan City's annual trading days were held in the middle of the Awakening Moon at the City Square. Specifically, they took place from the fourteenth to the sixteenth day of the Awakening Moon, lasting three days in total. Today was the very first day of the trading period.
After leaving the Pierre Grocery Store, Gaode rushed here with all his savings.
The City Square was massive, a wide expanse paved with bluestone bricks, and it was now packed with people. Some were commoners, some were petty peddlers, others were down-and-out scions of fallen families, and there were even servants working for the nobility. Now, these people of varying statuses all acted like merchants, setting up small stalls around the perimeter of the City Square.
The items for sale were incredibly bizarre and diverse; they sold just about anything. Gaode even saw someone peddling oddly shaped stones picked up from the riverbank. From time to time, a person or two would approach these eclectic stalls to take a look or ask a few questions, but very few deals were actually struck on the spot.
Seeing this scene, Gaode couldn't help but take a deep breath. He had only one purpose for coming here: to treasure hunt and score a bargain!
To improve his strength, aside from enhancing his own body, relying on external objects was also a viable method. However, Gaode's current savings were not enough to support buying strength-enhancing items through official channels, so he could only harbor the hopeful thought of getting lucky with a bargain. Of course, in a small place like Hogan City, without certain connections and influence, there was a high probability that one couldn't buy any Magic Creations even with money. Unlike in major cities, Magic Alchemy Creations were absolute rarities in Hogan City!
With these thoughts in mind, Gaode didn't stop walking and soon reached the center of the square's open area.
The sky was already growing dim, but the Magic Crystal Lamps set up around the square had been lit, brightly illuminating the area. Moreover, as the Magic Crystal Lamps lit up, the crowd in the square began to swell. Even the number of stall owners increased slightly—presumably, they were workers in the city who had just finished their shifts.
Like everyone else, Gaode walked slowly along the square, inspecting the stalls one by one in an attempt to find some good treasures. Among so many people in the square, he was definitely not the first to harbor such thoughts, nor was he the only one.
Obviously, scoring a bargain was a real possibility, and there was no shortage of tales about some nobody striking it rich by picking up an incredible item from a street stall. But the prerequisite was having enough luck and a keen eye. Under normal circumstances, the majority of people would end up with nothing. And Gaode, too, did not possess such luck. He wandered around many stalls but still hadn't seen any suspicious items; they were mostly everyday goods like clay pots and iron swords.
That was until a stall surrounded by over a dozen people caught his attention. Having browsed for so long, this was the first time Gaode had seen such a bustling stall. He wondered what kind of treasure was being sold. Unable to resist his curiosity, Gaode squeezed his way over.
The stall owner was a young man wearing a slightly tattered robe that still showed signs of fine material, though its originally intricate and exquisite patterns had worn away to a blur. He was highly likely a scion of a minor family that had fallen on hard times. Gaode made this judgment instantly, then swept his gaze over the goods displayed on the stall in front of the young man.
There were some finely crafted hanging ornaments, a few old books, and some worn-out trinkets bearing the marks of time. The reason for the crowd's attention was that someone had taken a fancy to a rusty, strange copper object that looked like a piece of ivory.
"Ten Gold Coins, and I won't sell for a copper less!" the young stall owner declared loudly. He picked up the ivory-like copper object and pointed to the mark in the upper right corner. "See this mark? This is the emblem of the Okenley Merchants Association!"
Gaode had never heard of the so-called Okenley Merchants Association, but his gaze subconsciously landed on the mark anyway. It was a six-pointed star, and in its center was a mysterious hieroglyphic symbol. However, much like the patterns on the young stall owner's robe, time and wear had blurred it so much that its exact shape could no longer be clearly distinguished.
"Do you know the Okenley Merchants Association? They are the most famous Magic Alchemy Creation Merchants Association on the entire continent! Their Magic Alchemy Products are bestsellers everywhere, always in short supply. Without certain connections, you couldn't buy them even if you had the money!
"Since my treasure bears this mark, it proves that it is a Magic Alchemy Creation from the Okenley Merchants Association..." the young stall owner continued to boast.
His confident claims about a "Magic Alchemy Creation" attracted even more attention. A Mage was synonymous with power. Anything related to Magic was undoubtedly an absolute treasure—mysterious and formidable. How could it not turn heads?
The person who had taken an interest in this copper object was a plump middle-aged man. He was not bluffed by the young stall owner's words and slowly interrupted the youth's boasting. "First of all, this mark is already blurred. In its current state, there is no way to prove that it is definitely the emblem of the Okenley Merchants Association.
"Secondly, even if this is the mark of the Okenley Merchants Association, it proves nothing.
"There are plenty of unscrupulous merchants across the continent who forge their emblem. The possibility of a product from the Okenley Merchants Association appearing in a place like Hogan City is incredibly low. I don't buy it, anyway.
"Finally," the plump middle-aged man curled his lips and said, "this thing can hardly be called a Magic Alchemy Creation. There are clearly no Magic Power fluctuations left in it. Either it was damaged, causing its Magic Power to drain away, or it was never a Magic Item to begin with."
The young stall owner wasn't embarrassed by the plump middle-aged man puncturing his boasting. He still argued plausibly, "It merely lost its Magic Power, but it is intrinsically an incredible Magic Item!
"If you take it to a major city and find a Repair Craftsman to fix it, you can easily resell it for sixty or seventy Sean Gold Coins. It would absolutely not be a problem!
"If I didn't need the money for an emergency, I would never bring it out to sell!"
The middle-aged man clearly knew his stuff. He pointed at the mark on the copper object and said, "Boy, don't take me for a fool. Judging by the wear and tear, this thing has probably been broken for a decade or two. Whether it can even be repaired is hard to say.
"Even if it can be repaired, with this level of wear, the repair fee certainly won't be cheap. And how much power it could recover afterward is still unknown.
"You think I'm a sucker? Buy it at a high price, travel all the way to a major city to find a highly skilled Repair Craftsman, and gamble on a perfect restoration?
"If there's such a cheap and easy deal, why don't you do it yourself?" the plump man said with a smile, his tone tinged with sarcasm.
The surrounding crowd let out amused laughter.
The young stall owner's face flushed red. "Then how much can you offer?"
"Two Sean Gold Coins." The plump man held up two fingers.
"How is that possible? The material alone is worth two Sean Gold Coins!" The young stall owner was clearly dissatisfied.
"That was when it was freshly made. Now that it's worn down like this, the material naturally isn't worth much anymore." The plump man was speaking the truth.
"Not selling! If you want to take advantage of someone, go elsewhere! You're not welcome here!"
The young stall owner, having been mocked by the plump man and then ruthlessly lowballed, was aggrieved. Letting his temper get the better of him, he simply started driving the customer away.
"Young people are just too hot-headed." The plump man wasn't in a hurry. He narrowed his eyes and smiled. "It's fine, I'll leave. Let's see if any sucker is willing to pay that much. I'll come back on the last day. If you still haven't sold it by then and have thought things through, my offer still stands."
"Even if it rots in my hands, I won't sell it to you!" the young stall owner said angrily.
The plump man shook his head and walked away chuckling.
With the spectacle over, the surrounding crowd gradually dispersed. To be honest, the items on the young stall owner's stall weren't very attractive. Without any drama to watch, people naturally had no interest in sticking around.