Chapter 582: The Difficulty of Naming

Chapter 582 -581: The Difficulty of Naming

As soon as he entered the shop, Colin saw shelves filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

It felt similar to that antique shop in Thousand Masts City, except the clutter here also included many everyday items like pots, pans, and bowls, giving the first impression that the place wasn’t very prosperous.

Colin walked up to the counter and asked the pot-bellied owner tentatively, “I’ve got a big deal for you. Are you able to come up with two thousand five hundred Gold Coins?”

“That depends on what kind of goods you have, sir,” the owner said, rubbing his hands together.

Just by looking at their gear, he knew they were no ordinary people, and that whatever they had to sell would be far from ordinary as well.

Colin nodded and placed all the items from his Dimension Bag onto the counter.

The owner’s eyes widened as he looked at the antiques on the table.

After a moment, he slowly spoke, “These are all antiques from the Ancient Empire. I know a very good buyer, but the most I can offer is two thousand Gold Coins.”

Colin put on an impatient look and said, “The lowest price I can accept is two thousand three hundred Gold Coins.”

“Then… how about two thousand two hundred Gold Coins?” the owner said with a smile. “I need to eat, too, sir.”

Colin nodded and said, “Agreed.”

Ale’s estimate had been two thousand Gold Coins, so he was already making a small profit.

The owner deftly took out four boxes from a cabinet, each containing a gemstone.

Two of them were already-cut opals. Both were transparent, light-blue gems with small golden specks scattered within them like stars.

Colin glanced at Ale’s expression.

The Half-Elf was staring intently at the gemstones on the table, and she even swallowed. From her reaction, Colin knew the gems had to be expensive.

As for the other two gemstones, their quality was worse; they were just two red garnets.

“These are all gemstones certified by the Divine Hall of the Goddess of Wealth. These two are opals, worth two thousand Gold Coins, and the other two are garnets, worth one hundred Gold Coins each. As long as you can find a Divine Hall of the Goddess of Wealth, you can exchange these gems for Gold Coins at any of her Divine Halls in the world.”

The owner explained, “You see, the back of the boxes even have the Divine Emblem of the Goddess of Wealth.”

“Then it’s a deal.” Colin took the boxes from the tabletop.

Just as he was about to lead the others out, the owner’s voice came from behind him again: “Excuse me, are you Mr. Colin? Are you all the Foreigner Squad?”

“How did you know?” Colin turned around and asked curiously.

“Only you could get your hands on so many antiques from the Ancient Empire, ‘Half-Imperial’ Mr. Colin,” the owner said with a smile.

Hearing this nickname, Colin’s face twitched. He then turned his head and led the others out of the small shop.

“By the way, should we give the little guy a name?” Orelia asked, following behind Colin while holding the little owlet.

Colin thought for a moment and said, “Alright then. Let’s call it ‘Dog-headed Owl’.”

“I told you letting him name the squad was a huge mistake,” Dorn said. “Now I have to ask, why’d you pick that name?”

“I remember reading in a book that in the East, many people think this creature’s head looks like a cat’s. Don’t you think it’s funny to name it the opposite?”

“I think the fact that you’re explaining this to us so seriously is what’s really funny,” Dorn grumbled.

“I think we should just call it Wings of Light, everyone.” “Midnight Knight is better.” “I say we call it Rat Hunter!”

Listening to his companions’ clamoring voices, Colin thought to himself, ‘Naming things really is hard.’

‘Besides… their names are so cliché. A far cry from a great name like ‘Dog-headed Owl’.’

After going to the Divine Hall of the Goddess of Wealth to confirm the gemstones were real, the group stayed in the city for another night before heading down the main road toward Holy Tear City the next day.

They didn’t exchange the gemstones for Gold Coins just yet. They weren’t hard to carry, and they could exchange them for gold bars or something else later in Thousand Masts City.

This way, everyone would get a share of four hundred forty Gold Coins.

Colin’s savings once again surpassed two thousand Gold Coins, reaching around two thousand two hundred.

Even without counting the Spellbook and the Magic Ring that protected against Mind Damage, this trip’s haul was quite substantial.

It was worth mentioning that the situation in the villages of the Northern Lands had improved quite a bit.

Although by Colin’s standards, the villagers weren’t living particularly well, at least he no longer saw refugees everywhere as he had before.

This meant Albert and his people were doing a good job—of course, a more pessimistic view was that the refugees had all fled in previous years, which was why there were so few now.

In this relaxed atmosphere, the group returned to the vicinity of the Witch’s Hammer Mountain Range a week later.

「That morning.」

Colin sat on a tree root, intently copying sentences from his draft notebook into his Spellbook.

“It’s been this long and you still haven’t figured out that spell?” Kase asked, plopping down across from him.

“I think I’ve just about got it,” Colin replied, his head still lowered.

“Good thing I’m not some Wizard or Shaman,” Kase remarked. “If I had to sit here every day scribbling in a notebook, I’d probably feel the urge to smash my own head in.”

“It’s not that dramatic,” Colin replied distractedly.

After studying for this period, he had more or less figured out the spells recorded in the Spellbook.

First was the cantrip, Thunder Sword.

Thunder Sword: A cantrip. When you make your next weapon attack, it deals an additional 1-8 Thunder Damage. If the target moves two meters or more within the next six seconds, it takes another 1-8 Thunder Damage.

This cantrip was similar to spells like the Emerald Flame Sword and could also be considered a type of close-combat cantrip.

Next was the Tier Four Magic, Any Door.

Any Door: A Tier Four Magic. You can take one companion and teleport to any location within a 170-meter radius. You only need to know the general location to teleport there.

The spell for this Teleportation Magic was much more complex than Misty Step’s and would likely take a few extra seconds to cast.

Its advantages were also obvious: the teleportation distance was much greater, and it could bring another creature along. It could be very effective at a critical moment.

Finally, there was the crucial Tier Five Magic, Steel Wind Slash.

Steel Wind Slash: A Tier Five Magic. You teleport to up to five visible creatures within a ten-meter radius of yourself, making a close combat spell attack against each one. A successful hit deals 6-60 Force Field Damage. Afterward, you can choose to teleport next to one of the creatures you attacked.