Chapter 603: Business Is Business

"I think it’s time to do some shopping."

He preferred to buy resources and never have to use them rather than discover in a deadly situation that his supplies had run out.

However, the academy’s ordinary shop was not the best choice for this kind of purchase, he knew someone else who could probably provide more suitable items.

Miranda.

Lian took out the special customer card he had received during their previous meeting.

Before he entered the Special Area, that woman had also provided him with useful resources and equipment.

Besides, Miranda was not just an ordinary seller.

She was one of the lords of the Black Market Towers, a woman with wide connections and access to rare goods.

Building connections with someone like her was not just a good idea, it could also be very useful in the future, and besides, that woman was an Overlord as well.

Having a good relationship with an Overlord was another advantage.

Lian activated the contact information on the card and sent a short message.

"Hello, Lady Miranda, I need some potions and equipment."

A few minutes later, a reply arrived, much sooner than he had expected.

"Look who finally showed up, Vorhelm."

He smiled.

"Did you miss me?"

"I missed our deals more."

"I thought so too." Lian let out a short laugh.

Miranda’s next reply was a little longer, she asked him to send an approximate shopping list so she could check the available stock.

The young Vorhelm wrote down a few main items and sent the list, and some time later, he received an address for their meeting.

But when he read it, he fell silent for a moment.

The main shop of the Awakened Association.

Lian checked the message again and then asked,

"Are you sure you didn’t send me the wrong address?"

"No."

"Weren’t we supposed to meet at the Black Market Tower?"

"This time, come to the Association shop, I’ll be waiting for you."

He stared at the screen for a few seconds.

Strange.

As far as he knew, Miranda worked in the Black Market, so why was she inviting him to one of the Awakened Association’s official locations?

Lian put the card away and stood up.

"Well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough."

The Awakened Association shop was very different from the Black Market Tower.

The main hall was filled with bright, even lighting, protected display cases stood along the walls, and different kinds of potions, defensive equipment, and cultivation materials were kept behind special glass.

The staff wore matching formal uniforms, and most customers provided their permits or account information before making a purchase.

Even the way the goods were displayed was much more organized than in the Black Market.

Lian looked around for a moment, the last time he had come here, he had received a bronze card, but he doubted he would need that card at the moment.

Then he approached one of the staff members.

"I have an appointment with Miss Miranda."

After hearing her name, the young woman checked the meeting information, and once the appointment was confirmed, her attitude became more formal.

"Mr. Lian Vorhelm?"

"That’s me."

"Miss Miranda is waiting for you, please follow me."

Lian raised an eyebrow, it seemed he really did have an important appointment.

The employee led him through the public area of the shop and took him to a quieter floor, at the end of the hallway stood a large door bearing the emblem of the Awakened Association.

After she announced his arrival, the door opened and he entered the office.

Miranda was sitting behind a large desk.

She wore dark formal clothes, and her hair was neatly arranged. Several sales reports lay on the desk, and a small case sat beside her.

When Lian entered, the woman raised her head and gave him a familiar smile that was cold, serious, and professional at the same time.

"Welcome."

The young Vorhelm looked at her for a few seconds, then at the office, and then back at her.

"I have a question."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Ask."

"Did you change jobs?"

Miranda fell silent for a moment, then laughed.

"No. I’m also the head of the Awakened Association’s shop department."

Lian raised his eyebrows.

"Also?"

"Yes. I manage this department, and at the same time, one of the Black Market Towers is also under my management."

He said nothing for a few seconds, then let out a quiet whistle.

"Wow, business genius at its finest." It was certainly a big surprise to him, he had never expected this woman to manage both.

Did the Awakened Association know that this woman was basically the owner of part of the world’s largest illegal market, yet chose to ignore it?

Or did it not know and simply ignore it? Of course, he doubted that the world’s largest organization would be unaware of such a fact.

Besides, this woman was so powerful that the Awakened Association could not do much to her anyway, so it was better to keep her under its watch.

She smiled.

"That’s enough."

Lian sat down on the chair across from her.

"No, I’m seriously impressed, you have a position in the official market and in the Black Market, so if someone can’t buy something through one channel, they’ll probably end up coming to you through the other."

Miranda placed her fingers on the desk.

"I prefer to say that I provide suitable services for every kind of customer."

"What’s the difference?"

"Mine sounds more legal."

"Right, you’re really a genius."

Miranda shook her head slightly.

"If you’re done praising me, we can talk about your purchase."

Miranda moved one of the files on her desk aside.

"I saw your list, advanced healing potions, mana recovery potions, antidotes, and several kinds of emergency equipment, do you have a long journey ahead of you?"

The young Vorhelm nodded.

"I’m going back to the Ruined Realm."

"I guessed that, do you have a specific destination?"

"The Land of First Dawn."

Her expression became more serious for a moment.

"So your departure is getting close."

Lian raised an eyebrow.

"You know about it too?"

"Of course, when you do business with Awakened, it’s better to know when and where they’re being sent."

The woman gave a slight smile.

"Especially when one of your customers is among those who were selected."

Lian nodded, she glanced at his shopping list and then asked,

"By the way, it seems you haven’t brought anything to sell lately."

Lian looked at her for a moment.

"Why?"

"Before, whenever you returned, you always had a few interesting materials or treasures with you, even monster corpses, but I haven’t received any offers from you lately."

"Personal use." He thought for a moment and answered simply.

Miranda looked at him for a few seconds.

"All of them?"

"Almost."

The woman let out a short sigh.

"What a shame, I was hoping you had brought something interesting for me this time too."

"Maybe next time."

She did not try to ask any more questions about Lian’s treasures, she was experienced enough to know that unnecessary curiosity could damage her relationship with a valuable customer.

Instead, she turned her attention back to his current purchases.

"Well, there is no problem with the healing potions, we have several types suitable for serious injuries, and for mana recovery, I can offer you higher-quality options than the ones you bought last time."

Lian nodded.

"Good, I’d prefer to have more of them."

"Judging by the items you’re buying, I guess you don’t plan to use them only for yourself."

"Maybe." The young Vorhelm smiled, he was buying supplies for both himself and his colony.

Miranda glanced at him but did not continue, instead, she opened one of the sales reports.

"By the way, I heard you’ve recently attracted the attention of two Celestials."

"News really does travel fast." He sighed.

"Especially when it concerns my valuable customers." She nodded.

Miranda’s gaze rested on Lian’s Ancestral Mark for a moment.

"You’ve also received the Pendragon Mark, that was truly unexpected."

"It was unexpected for me too." Lian shrugged.

The woman smiled, who would have thought that the boy who had brought her the first fallen corpse from the tenth Ruined Realm a year ago would reach such a position today?

She had been lucky that day to establish a good connection with him directly, and she felt that this relationship would become even more beneficial to her in the future.

For someone like her, everything was about business and money, wherever there was money, she would be there too.

"Then I hope we’ll have more interesting deals in the future."

"It seems you’re making more plans for my future than I am." Lian replied calmly.

Miranda laughed.

"A good businesswoman always has plans for her valuable customers."

After checking the list, she paused for a moment at the section for mana recovery potions.

"You want a lot of mana potions."

"Some of my skills consume a lot of mana."

The woman thought for a few seconds, then a different smile appeared on her face, the same smile Lian remembered from their previous meetings.

A smile that usually meant a business offer was coming.

"Then perhaps I have something even better for you."

"What?"

Miranda stood up and walked toward a protected case beside the wall, after checking her own access mark, the case opened.

She took out a small, dark-colored box and placed it on the desk.

When the box opened, he saw a delicate metal seal with very thin lines of blue light moving across its surface.

Miranda pushed the box slightly toward him.

"Mana Reservoir Seal."

Lian picked it up, the seal’s structure was different from most of the treasures he had seen before.

Several small mana rings were built into it, and it seemed to be designed to store energy in a compact space.

"What does it do?"

"You can store some of your own mana inside it while resting, then during a fight, the seal gradually returns that energy to your body."

Lian looked at it for a moment.

"So it’s an extra mana reservoir?"

"More or less, but not in a way that lets you use all the energy inside it at once."

Miranda explained that the seal had a limited transfer speed and had to be filled again with its owner’s mana after it was emptied.

"It’s useful for fighters whose skills consume a lot of mana, especially if they don’t have time to recover their mana naturally between two powerful attacks."

Lian kept his eyes on the seal, and he immediately thought of Wings of God.

Some of its uses, especially long flights or powerful attacks, consumed a large amount of his mana.

The seal could not make up for the huge cost of an attack at that very moment.

But if it gradually returned some of the mana he had spent after he used a skill, it could allow him to stay in a fight for longer.