Fei Lei and Yan Mei walked along the streets of Galleria with fascinated expressions. Along the way, they saw many magical objects being sold and many other goodies lined up in a bazaar. There was food, drinks, clothing, weapons, armors, and so much more.
Looking at all the sales Fei Lei had to admit, "This place isn't called the city of merchants for nothing."
"Yep, Galleria is the biggest trade center in the eastern empire. It's no surprise that they are this busy," Yan Mei said as she looked at the wears on a nearby stand.
The two traversed through the city and spotted many goods that captured their interest, however, Fei Lei eventually spotted something that interested him greatly.
He didn't have any idea what it was, but couldn't help but feel a sense of deep familiarity with the object.
It was a strange cog shaped stone that had cracks running along the surface. While Fei Lei inspected the object, he noticed that it had letters and numbers written in English."
Fei Lei looked at the other items around the cog and saw a few things that interested him as well, a few rare metals such as tungsten, and flawless diamonds without a single blemish or scratch on them.
"Perfect lens material for my electron Microscope," Fei Lei thought as he picked up the three items and said, "How much for these three?"
The Merchant looked at him and smiled before announcing, "1.8 million GB."
Fei Lei almost fell over, and said, "For what? None of these items have any Mana in them! What's with the ridiculous price?!"
"Hey if you don't want to buy them, then don't buy them," The merchant replied with a disgruntled tone.
Fei Lei pulled out twenty 1 Star Cores from his ring, and said, "You're a crude businessman, but since there would be some money left over how about you throw in that stone thingy there?"
The Merchant smiled and took the Core from him, "Very nice a perfectly intact Wind Cores. Deal!"
Fei Lei stored his items, and walked off happily, "What was so good about that?" Yan Mei asked looked at him.
"I have a piece for my microscope now! I just need electricity to make a powerful enough light," Fei Lei responded as he looked around the shops, for other materials.
"Hey, it's...Is that Silica?" Yan Mei pointed out, Fei Lei walked over and saw that it was indeed a large chunk of Silica crystal.
"Excuse me, do you mind if I ask where you found this weak mineral! Fei Lei came up to him looking furious." The Shopkeeper looked at him and frowned.
"Why are you asking?" He shot out.
"Because someone actually dared to make a pass it off as a rare gem to before and sold it for real currency. I want to know the location of the ore so I can ban its use with the guild!"Fei Lei bluffed hard, never changing his angered expression for a second.
Yan Mei was a little worried that Fei Lei might have messed up, however, the ruse seemed to have paid off.
"Look, man, I found it in an underground cavern. It looked like a diamond so I thought it could have some use, but I've never sold it as a valuable gem," The Merchant said as his eyes darted to the distance.
It was only for a microsecond, but for Fei Lei's senses, the clerk might as well just have told him where the mine was located at."
Fei Lei didn't miss the opportunity as he called out, "How far away is this mine, 10 miles, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110?!"
Suddenly the merchant's eyes dilated slightly, "Look if you're not going to tell me..." Fei Lei was suddenly cut off by the Merchant.
"You'll what? Why are you asking so many questions?" The Merchant shouted in anger.
"Tsk!" Fei Lei clicked his teeth.
Yan Mei smiled and wrapped her arm around Fei Lei's elbow as she said, "I told you, Fei Lei, he'd figured it out."
Fei Lei sighed like he had lost some great competition before saying, "I was hoping to buy the ore and make something out of it for my lady here, but fine, I'll buy the weird mineral at store price. How much?"
Yan Mei looked at him with a sly grin on her face.
"Trying to cut my prices, get out of here kid!" The shopkeeper shouted as he raised his fist in anger.
Fei Lei frowned and shouted, "Ah screw you old man!"
He then grabbed Yan Mei's hand and stormed off like he was mad, Yan Mei's face was still beet red when Fei Lei started to laugh and let go.
"Now what did you do?" Yan Mei asked in surprise.
"I found out where he discovered the mine. If I'm lucky, we can find a Silica deposit." Fei Lei laughed again and explained how he managed to trick the merchant.
"Tricky Devil!" Tan Mei said before laughing and holding on to Fei Lei's hand.
Fei Lei and Yan Mei continued to walk around, chatting and spotting a few more items that they wanted to buy.
Yan Mei found some good materials for enchanting practice and even a good forging hammer, while Fei Lei focused on stocking up on mundane ores and metals.
After collecting quite a bit, Fei Lei saw something he thought would look nice on Yan Mei. It was a silver band of metal with a blue gem inserted in the headpiece. It was a Magic Mortal Ranked Item called the Circlet of Focus. The headpiece contained a mild mind-calming effect that would allow one to study easier.
After spending ten more 1-Star Cores, Fei Lei walked over and placed the circlet on her head.
Feeling the effects of the Circlet, Yan Mei smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thanks, I love it!"
Fei Lei grinned and said, "It's just a Mortal Ranked item."
"But it came from you, so I'll make sure to treasure it." Yan Mei said as she laid her head on Fei Lei's shoulder. They continued to walk from stall to stall when Yan Mei suddenly spotted something they were both interested in.
"Fei Lei, look!" Yan Mei grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a weapon stand.
Fei Lei looked at the wears while Yan Mei picked up a bladeless sword with only the hilt and guard before she said, "This is one of J. Tuner's works! From the looks of it, this magic item is a Moderate Earthy Ranked Treasure!"
She waved the blade as a burst of heat appeared and a long fiery Katana like sword appeared.
The magic item had turned her mana into an almost solid-like state.
Fei Lei placed his hand near the blade and felt the intense heat coming off of it, even without touching it, the fires almost singe his fingertips.
"This guy is obsessed with making Magic Items that can be used by all mages, a lofty goal, however, it often results in him making inferior products. Not to mention he specializes in close range equipment, other than Wind and Earth Mages, the rest usually rely on long-range attacks," Yan Mei explained.
Fei Lei held his hand out, "Can I try?"
"Sure, I wonder what a Non-Elementalist's effects will have on his work," Yan Mei replied.
Fei Lei grabbed the weapon by the hilt and the fire disappeared, he channeled his Mana into the hilt, and in response, nothing happened. He then sighed before trying one last thing, Fei Lei focused his telekinesis into the blade, when suddenly, the magical item showed a reaction.
A long clear katana appeared from inside the sword's tsuba, it was twice as thick as a regular katana, and around the size of a Ōdachi. Every time Fei Lei waved it, the transparent surface of the blade glimmered against the sunlight like glass.
Fei Lei felt that with the treasure active, it was incredibly easier to use his telekinesis, as it lessened the strain greatly like some kind of amplifier.
"Whoa, it worked! Odd, I don't sense any Mana coming from it, and I don't see a name for the weapon either." Yan Mei said with an elated smile on her face.
"I'll buy this, it's new name is Clear Mist." Fei Lei announced as he paid for the blade. Because it was a defective product of sorts, Fei Lei ended up getting a good deal and only spending 50 Wind Cores on the purchase.
"See anything else you like?" Fei Lei asked looking at the weapons on the rack.
Yan Mei stared around and said, "That one!" as she pointed her finger at a red bow that looked like it was made from a Phoenix feather.
"Ahh, you have good eyes young miss, that's a Flawless Earthly Treasure, with the arrows included, altogether that comes up to 15 million Gold Bills."
Yan Mei shook her head as she thought, "Why did I only take a few million! I should have just taken daddy's spare wallet."
Fei Lei pulled out 150 One Star Wind Cores and placed them on the counter before he said, "Here you go!"
The shopkeeper looked stunned as he quickly hid the cores and said, "Pleasure doing business with you."
Fei Lei and Yan Mei placed their new equipment in their spatial rings and walked off.
As they got closer to Guild, they didn't really see anything else that they were interested in and couldn't afford anything they did take a liking to.
When they neared the Guil Hall, all of a sudden, people started to rush through the streets in a frenzy.
"The World Dungeon has respawned, the competition to decide the party that gets to enter is beginning!" A citizen shouted as they passed by Fei Lei and Yan Mei.
"Hurry we're going to miss the queue up! I heard from a friend that someone special is going to make an appearance!" Another citizen shouted.
Everyone was shouting and chatting alongside them when Fei Lei said, "Come on let's go sign up first, we'll register with the Guild afterward."
"That's odd, it's opening up almost a full week earlier then it should. What's going on?" Yan Mei said scratching her head.
Fei Lei and Yan Mei shrugged their shoulders and ran as fast as they could next to the mob of people.
After making their way through the crowd they appeared over a large tournament stage that had several hundred painted and circular rings surrounding the grounds.
A large lineup of people was standing next to a few mages behind a wooden table. On that table was a crystal ball on it that the contestants were placing their hands on, and behind the table was a 10 foot stone pillar with strange markings on its surface.
The words "Next, and fail!" were heard echoing out the mouths of those sitting behind the table.
Their voices spread throughout the area repeatedly, while dozens of Mages were constantly being tossed out of the competition and only small handfuls were being accepted.
It took a while for it to be their turn, and the looks of hate he was receiving from the neighboring men because of Yan Mei's proximity to him, was starting to get on his nerves.
"Who is this guy?" A random Mage whispered.
"Why is such a stacked girl like that with a freakish muscle man?" Another Mage whispered.
Yan Mei was in a similar position, many girls were bitting their fingers as they looked at them holding hands.
"Probably another hussy!" A girl mage called out.
"What's up with his muscles...it's kind of nice to look at. Lucky girl." A fellow maiden spoke up.
Fei Lei was started to lose his patience, he could see that they still had a ways to go when another 'Fail' was shouted out.
It took almost a full hour for the line to shorten down. When it came time for Yan Mei to be tested, Fei Lei showed a sigh of relief.
She walked up to the table, placed her hand on the orb, and watched as the magic item glowed brighter than with any previous contestant.
It felt like they were standing in a ray of the sun's gentle warmth.
The people behind the table showed shocked expression when one of the testers stood up and suddenly shouted out, "Fire God Roots! This Child has Fire God Roots! Furthermore, her Mana Levels are just as crazy as one would expect!"
The crowd burst into chatter as many of them stared at her cloaked figure.
"Pass! Please demonstrate your magic." The person in charge of running the test shouted.
Yan Mei pulled out her new bow, the Vermillion Feather, and charged up her mana as she cast a Level-0 Fire Spell, Flaming Arrow.
A single blazing arrow appeared in her hand as she drew back her bow. An arrow entirely made of green flames shot out and caused the stone pillar to explode.
Once the dust settled, the chunk of stone was in pieces, and around it was a 5-foot crater.
Suddenly, a blast of Mana surged from the stone pillar as it slowly began to repair itself.
"Holy crap, did you see that?" A contestant said asked with wide eyes.
"I hope I don't get put in the same elimination-circle as her!" Another of the contestants said with fear in her voice.
"Pass, next!" The validator shouted.
Fei Lei stepped up to the crystal and placed his hand on the orb, suddenly, without any warning, the orb grew clear and gave off a radiant wave of energy that engulfed the area.
The hosts were shocked at the levels of his mana, even now it was rapidly inundating the atmosphere with its presence, they didn't know what to think.
When all of a sudden, a crack appeared on the testing orb, before they could take a look at Fei Lei's roots the crystal ball shattered into dozens of pieces.
The crowd blew up into an uproar as they began discussions amongst each other.
"What the hell kind of monster is that?" One of the people in line shouted.
"Did you see the color? He's a Non-Elemental user! How does he have that much mana?!"
"A Non-Elemental Mage with that much mana. Destiny truly played a cruel joke on the boy."
"It must've been broken by the Fire God Root girl! Retry! We demand a retake."
Wilder and wilder accusations of cheating were being thrown out by the second. Fei Lei even heard someone comment on him having tricked Yan Mei into dating him.
"There is nothing wrong with the treasure!" The announcer declared.
The crowd starting acting up in denial, "What are you shilling for the guy for?"
"Wow, must be some rich guys son," Another spectator called out.
"Hey, noble, how does it feel to be the outcast of your family? No wonder you have so many muscles! Compensating for your lack of ability much?"
To shut them up, even before the validators passed him, Fei Lei walked over to the repaired pillar and pulled out his new sword.
Placing the bladeless hilt next to his waist, Fei Lei swung the transparent blade as fast as he could.
A huge gust of wind was pulled in along with his swing and only a loud echo of something hitting the stone remained.
After the single stroke, he sheathed the weapon, turned around, and started to walk towards the grouping of people that passed.
Once again, the crowd started up their jeering again.
"What are you doing, moron?! Dancing?"
"You didn't pass! Fucking Loser!"
"Get off the stage, ya dumb ass!"
Fei Lei smiled and simply pointed to the pillar, when, against their expectations, the stone pillar began to slowly reveal the cut running across it in a diagonal direction.
A loud crash echoed throughout the area as it hit the ground and caused a plume of dust to fly into the air.
The crowd gasped in complete and utter shock.
"Pass!" One of the testers shouted in disbelief before the other said, "Please wait, while we replace the testing orb."
Yan Mei stared at Fei Lei in shock, she then moved closer to him and wrapped her hands around his as she thought, "Just how strong is my man?"
Fei Lei gave her a quick peck on the lips in return.
The atmosphere emanating from jealous women and men was so intense that it could almost fuel an inferno.
After a while of gossiping, the validator returned to the testing grounds with a new magic orb, and the examinations resumed.
Most of it was pretty boring, nothing too interesting happened until all of a sudden, a vibrant and bright blue light covered the area. It felt like the ocean had appeared and washed over everyone in a calming embrace.
"Sea God Roots!" A spectator shouted.
"Another one! Seriously, what the hell is going on today?!" One of the contestants shouted.
"Isn't that the Northern Goddess, Hina Umi?!"
"The Blue Edan School surely has its beauties."
Fei Lei looked over to see a young woman around the same age as them. She was almost six feet, tan skin, and wore a light-breastplate and a blue and white wave-patterned battle skirt.
She had sapphire blue eyes, fiery red straight short hair that hanged just below pointed ears, and a long braided ponytail that had a red ribbon tying it off.
Her breasts were around a D cup, her curves were smooth and well defined, and her body was extremely fit. With all the right muscles for fighting, it appeared that she had been trained non-stop by an expert in combat for years.
She carried a long whip made of some kind of flexible purple metal and carried herself with the grace of a finely honed warrior.
When she spotted Fei Lei in the crowd, the mysterious red-head suddenly waved at him as she knew him.
Yan Mei gave Fei Lei a suspicious stare and asked, "You know her?"
Fei Lei shook his head as he answered, "Nope, never seen her before in my life. I...think?"
The girl with the Water God Roots walked up to the statue and pulled out her whip. Suddenly, without warning, the color of her body turned into a light shade of red.
"That's!" Fei Lei said with a wide-eyed shocked expression.
"Isn't that your Non-Elemental Spell, Boost?! How does she know it!?" Yan Mei growled as she eyed Fei Lei, "You said you didn't know her!"
"I can promise you that I've never taught anyone that spell!" Fei Lei spoke in his defense.
The whip was surrounded in a great blur of violently rotating water. The clap produced echoed out like thunder as it pierced a hole through the stone pillar.
The following sonic boom created a large gust of wind and noise that made the crowds' clothing flutter.
"Pass," The Validator called out.
The red-headed girl then ran up to Fei Lei and held out her hand before saying, "So, you're Teacher's newest student, huh? I'm Hina, a pleasure to meet you."
Fei Lei's jaw dropped while she shook his hand and said, "Hello! Aren't you going to tell me your name? Didn't master teach you any manners?"
Fei Lei swung head side to side before he said, "Sorry! I'm Fei Lei, this is my girlfriend, Yan Mei."
Yan Mei felt her soul floating as she heard Fei Lei declaring them in a relationship, she then nodded her head as Hina place out her hand for Yan Mei to shake as well.
"Hi! I'm his Teacher's eighth student. I'm also the youngest next to Fei Lei." Hina said as she shook Yan Mei's hand.
"I figured as much," Fei Lei mumbled as he knew the only two possibilities was that this girl was either the child or another student of his teacher.
"Is that how you know the boost spell?! Just how many students does the Mage Slayer have?" Yan Mei questioned in shock.
"Nine, including Fei Lei, but that's supposed to be a secret, so don't go blabbing, or I'll have'ta kill ya," Hina answered with a devious smile.