Chapter 74: Copper Nail Lane

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Copper Nail Lane

Hesia figured that, to put it bluntly, they were just hit by market competition and were trying to survive.

Their target customers used to be all Adventurers, but now they were forced to specialize in the low-end market. The premium marketplace had turned into a bargain basement.

But a bargain basement wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He planned to test the waters there first. If it didn’t work out, he could always go back to Four Seas Currency. There was no harm in comparison shopping.

After selling the Crystal Core, he would decide the priorities for his shopping list based on how much money he ended up with.

Of course, the ideal scenario would be for the Crystal Core’s value to far exceed his expectations, freeing him from the dilemma of what to buy and when.

He passed through several alleys, each growing narrower. The ground became more uneven, and a faint, musty smell of old wood hung in the air.

Copper Nail Lane, in the southwest corner of town, was certainly true to its name.

The first shop on the corner, right at the entrance to the lane, was a small establishment with a crooked sign that read "Copper Horn Awakening House."

The design on the sign was faded and peeling, and the windowpanes were covered in such a thick layer of dust that it was nearly impossible to see inside.

He pushed the door open. A wind chime hanging over the frame let out a crisp DING-A-LING, and a wave of air, smelling of old junk and dust, washed over him, making Hesia choke and cough twice.

The shop was dimly lit. All sorts of strange and curious trinkets were piled haphazardly on the shelves: chipped clay pots, a few old books with faded covers, several daggers with cracked blades... In the corner even hung a few pieces of suspiciously colored Leather Armor.

Behind the counter, a short, bald old man was buried in a pile of miscellaneous items, rummaging for something. A few sparse white hairs clung stubbornly to his oily scalp.

He wore a grease-stained brown linen robe with an equally greasy leather apron over it.

Hearing the wind chime, he called out without looking up, his voice tinged with a forced enthusiasm.

"Aha! We meet again, old friend!"

He apparently treated every customer who walked in as a regular.

Unfortunately for him, Hesia wasn’t.

After waiting a while for a response and hearing none, the little old man finally looked up, his cloudy eyes taking a moment to focus.

Upon seeing Hesia’s unfamiliar face, his enthusiasm didn’t wane in the slightest. "Welcome to the Copper Horn Awakening House! The best general store in Rose Town! What can I do for you? Need a dagger that cuts through iron like butter? Or perhaps a Magic Lantern to light up the darkness? Take a look at these treasures! We have it all!"

Hesia nearly choked on his own spit.

’The best general store?’

He glanced at the pile of junk on the shelves.

’More like the junkiest in town!’

He got straight to the point. "Do you sell Crystal Cores here?"

The little old man froze for a second. A glint of cunning flashed in his beady little eyes, and he plastered on an even more enthusiastic smile. "Oh! A professional Adventurer, I see! As the best general store, of course I stock high-end goods like Crystal Cores. What type are you looking for?"

Hesia tried to fish for information. "I’m looking for a dark red Crystal Core. Do you have any in stock? Or could you bring out the types you have for me to see?"

The little old man’s eyes darted. "Dark red? Yes, of course! But there are so many kinds. Which specific Demon does it come from? Or what kind of Enchantment effect are you looking for? It would be helpful if you told me, so I can go look for it in the back for you..."

After a bit of talking in circles, Hesia finally figured it out—

’This damn old man doesn’t have any Crystal Cores in stock at all!’

’He’s just trying to trick me into saying which one I want. Then he’ll pretend to go get it from his stock, but really he’ll just be buying time to run to another shop, buy it for cheap, and flip it to me for a profit!’

Hesia couldn’t be bothered to waste another second on him. He turned and walked out of the "best" junk shop in town.

The second shop looked much more reliable. Its sign depicted a cute Land Bird wearing a pack, with the words "Land Bird’s Travel Bag" written underneath.

The shop itself was much cleaner and tidier than the one next door, and there were noticeably more customers inside.

A good number of people dressed like Adventurers were browsing the merchandise.

The owner was a kind-looking, middle-aged man who was currently busy with a few other Adventurers.

Having learned his lesson from the previous shop, Hesia didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he browsed the store, keeping his ears open to the conversations around him.

He soon managed to piece together the shop’s backstory from the idle chatter of two other customers.

Apparently, the owner had been a traveling merchant. For years, he and his Land Bird had gone back and forth between the various Adventurer rest stops on the outskirts of the Gray Mist Forest, selling supplies.

He later got married and opened this brick-and-mortar shop in Copper Nail Lane for the sake of his family.

Thanks to the reputation he’d built up over the years, coupled with the fact that he sold quality goods at fair prices and had helped many Adventurers out of tight spots, he had accumulated a loyal base of repeat customers.

This significantly improved Hesia’s impression of the shop and its owner.

He walked up to the counter and got in line.

At last, the customer ahead of him paid and left satisfied, and the middle-aged owner turned to Hesia with a gentle smile.

"Hello there, young man. Anything I can help you with?"

Hesia decided to use the same strategy of asking for a price as if he were a buyer.

By posing as a customer, he could first get a feel for the approximate market price of his own Crystal Core.

"Sir, I’d like to buy a Crystal Core, but I’m not sure which kind I want. Could I see what you have available?"

"Of course," the owner said with a nod, clearly accustomed to customers who wanted to "just have a look."

He turned and took out a tray lined with black velvet from a locked wooden box beneath the counter.

On the tray lay several Crystal Cores of various sizes and colors, each emitting a faint halo of Magic Power.

Hesia’s eyes scanned the tray, and one of the cores immediately caught his attention.

That Crystal Core, in its color, size, and even the patterns of energy flowing within it, was very similar to the one in his bag. In fact, its luster was even a little duller than his own...

He pointed to the Crystal Core and asked, "Shopkeeper, what kind of Demon did this come from?"

The shopkeeper glanced at it, his expression turning a bit more serious. "Oh, that’s a high-quality piece. It comes from a Rare Demon found in the Dungeon, a Frenzied Snake Lizard."

’Dungeon?’

Hesia’s heart skipped a beat. He’d thought it would be from a Thorny Wild Boar, too.

But looking at its color and the faint energy patterns within, it was indeed remarkably similar.

Suppressing his doubt, he continued, "So what kind of effect does this Crystal Core have? And how much are you selling it for?"

The shopkeeper picked up the Crystal Core and explained, "This is a Rare Crystal Core containing the [Berserk] effect. It’s one of the highest-grade Enchanting Materials. If you successfully enchant a weapon with it, it will unlock the user’s potential when they’re injured in combat, temporarily boosting their Strength Attribute."

’[Berserk]?’

Hesia’s mind stirred. He immediately recalled the other option the system had offered when he killed the Thorny Wild Boar chieftain—[Fury and Suffering].

Based on the description, the two effects were remarkably similar. In fact, the [Berserk] effect from this Crystal Core didn’t even sound as direct or powerful as the [Fury and Suffering] ability.

Hesia couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

He thought about the Power he had so easily discarded. Others had to spend a fortune and rely on sheer luck to obtain something similar. Furthermore, the Enchantment process itself was costly, complicated, and had an extremely high failure rate. And on top of all that, a single weapon could only hold one such effect...

It turned out that, without even realizing it, he already possessed a Power that normal people had to pay an immense price just to get a chance at.

Seeing Hesia lost in thought and silent for a while, the shopkeeper assumed he was intimidated by the reputation of such a top-tier material and tried a different approach to gauge his interest.

"But, young man, this thing is extremely expensive. To be honest, I wouldn’t really recommend you buy it. For that kind of money, you’d be better off just getting a superior weapon. It’s a much better value."