Since Calter encountered savage rats here then there was a high chance that their nest would be close to his position. Of course, he won't directly attack the rat's nest as he doesn't have the ability to. But even if he encountered a group of rats that he can't deal with, he can still flee using the Cloud Stepping Horse
Thinking of this, Calter hopped on the back of his horse and they travelled slowly. In just three minutes the group of skeletons encountered another group of rats. Their numbers were lower this time only about ten but there was a special rat with them. The normal savage rats have brown fur but one of them has a pitch-black fur
"Just as I thought, their nest might be near here" Calter said to himself and just like before, sent a mental command to the skeletons. This might be the skeleton's last fight as their bodies were already badly damaged
The group of skeletons and rats clashed. The rats either bite the skeletons or used their claws. The skeletons on the other hand can only crudely use their swords to slash on the rats
The rats broke more of the bones on these skeletons, although it didn't kill them but their bodies were too broken to move again. The rats didn't know that they need to severe the skeletons' heads to kill them. The skeletons sacrificed their selves to kill all the rats including the one that has black fur
Calter pointed his wand on the crippled skeletons and undo the summoning. The skeletons dissipated into black particles and they vanished from the Enchanted Star Realm plane
With Calter unsummoning them, it made his mana to start recovering back in normal speed. "I only have little mana left, I guess I'll call it a day" his plan was to just test if making money through hunting will yield significant result. With the rat nest, he can easily earn a thousand Magic Crystals per day. If he really wants to, few thousands are still within his limit now
The rat nest has a fast-reproductive rate and with many rats giving birth to more rats, the amount he killed was just like a drop in the ocean. Besides, he doesn't need to worry about his safety too much. The only danger he would face would be other humans attacking him
Calter put the bodies on his spatial ring and decided to head back. He already missed Kence and wished to see him. With the horse, it was a breeze going back in the city. No Magic Apprentice level can catch up to him even though the horse didn't run at full speed as he was memorizing the route
He didn't saw any hunters around the area where he encountered the rats. It wasn't surprising though, normal group of hunters are not afraid of the group of fifteen rats but they are afraid to encounter one that has hundreds to thousands. A small group of the rats would already have ten to fifteen members, they will die if they encountered larger groups. They can't risk getting surrounded by rats
When Calter was almost out of the forest he heard the sound of a bell ringing. He looked at where the sound was coming from and saw rows of big carriages. In front of the carriage was a fat man along with several mages that looks like his guards
Calter can't sense their level, meaning these people are of a higher level than him. Calter stopped the horse and looked curiously at these people. He wasn't shock at their confidence of making too much sound and was not afraid of attracting beasts
It was easy to tell that this group was quite powerful. The fat man saw Calter before looking at the horse he was riding on
"Cloud Stepping Horse" the fat man's eyes lit up and he showed a friendly smile at Calter. Anyone that can ride this kind of horse have great backgrounds. The horse has the price of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousand Magic Crystals, depending on their level
"Young Master welcome! I am the merchant Gold, do you want to buy goods from us or sell the beasts that you hunted?" The fat man, Gold said. Calter controlled the horse and they went closer to the merchants. There's no harm checking out their things and if they can give him a fair price for his goods then it would be convenient
If he wants to gain or sell something with favorable price, befriending a merchant was the best way! Of course, he can use the City Lord's connection but Otto's power and connections were mostly within Soaring Magic City
Merchants on the other hand might be located in a single place but their connections include the other city merchants. They were the only supplier of any items that can only be found on other cities or faraway places. Even the city lord needs to personally order someone if he wants to have goods that only the other cities produced
Calter wasn't afraid that he would be attacked. Merchants put great emphasis on their customer's trust, Calter won't believe that they would be too greedy on his bit of wealth
He jumped from his horse and landed on the ground. "Can I see your goods?" The fat man nodded while still having a friendly smile on his face. "Do you want to see a list before checking the goods or see it directly?"
"I want to see a list first"
A stock of paper appeared on Gold's hand and he passed it to Calter. The youth started browsing on the variety of items. The list was quite good, it has the name of the items, price, its picture, and details of its use. Sheets of paper were scanned by his eyes before it landed on a certain item
"Moon necklace?" Calter muttered and the first thing that comes into Calter's mind was Kence. The moon almost has the same color as Kence's eyes and the chains looked like it was made from ice. The design was beautiful and Nobles would surely like this item. It doesn't have any practical use but with its enchanting appearance, it wasn't surprising that it would have a high price
A necklace without any practical use was priced at ten thousand Magic Crystals. This is an item that only rich Nobility can buy. Without a doubt, this necklace would surely suit his lover. Calter can't help but to form a smile on his face
The old man rubbed his hands in anticipation. 'It looks like he wants to give a gift on his lover. I just picked it up and didn't bought it, what an easy money' the fat man has the same smile on his face but inside him he was gloating
The necklace was just something he saw along the way; it didn't have any damage and looks brand new. An item that he didn't spend anything and can be sold for ten thousand Magic Crystals, how can he be not happy?
"I want to see the Moon Necklace" the fat man nodded and went to one of the big carriages. He has spatial rings but he can't possibly put all of his goods inside, it will require lots of rings. The necklace was put in an exquisite box, just the box alone will cost a hundred Magic Crystals but it doesn't matter. He won't feel pain from giving the box
Gold opened the box revealing the necklace. Calter was satisfied as it was even more beautiful than when he only saw the picture. He took it and it was a bit cold on his hand, but it doesn't matter. Kence is an Ice Type Mage, he would surely be comfortable to something cold
Calter put back the necklace inside the box. "I'll take it"
The fat man was happy gaining ten thousand just like that. The fat man gave the necklace to Calter and the youth straightforwardly gave the payment. He didn't bother bargaining. For him this is a gift to his lover, how can be stingy about it?
"I want to sell beasts body" Calter waved his hand and tens of beasts' corpses appeared on the ground. Even the one he got from the mage that attacked him was included
The fat man wasn't surprise that a level 3 mage can hunt these many beasts. He thought that Calter used the Cloud Stepping Horse to help him hunt
Gold went to check each of the body along with his assistants and said the overall price to Calter
"Young Master, I can give you 3,500 Magic Crystals for all of the beasts' body" the fat man offered
In truth, Calter didn't hunt that many beasts aside from the wolves and rats. Most of the price came from the mage he killed before. The fifty Magic Crystals per one level 3 beast was only the average price. If the body was too damaged, its price would only be comparable to the price of level 2 beasts around 30 crystals per body. While there were some that only has the most important parts thus only equating to that much
3,500 was already a fair price. Most of the time merchants will say a low price before slowly raising it through negotiations. But this time the merchant gave a fair price already, it seems like he was happy for gaining ten thousand magic crystals
After all, merchants might seem to gain a lot of money for every transaction of thousands to tens of thousands but if you removed the capital from their selling price they won't profit that much. One can't blame him from being happy at gaining ten thousand while his capital was only a hundred crystals
"Okay, I'll sell it" Calter also knew that this was already a fair price and didn't bother to negotiate. All he wants now is to go back and see Kence again. He can't wait seeing his lover's reaction at seeing the moon necklace
-----
At this time, Kence was still engrossed on his studies, completely forgetting all other things. Even his master didn't come into his mind as he was fully immersed in the wonders of magic
At first, Otto was happy that his student was serious on his cultivation but then he gradually started worrying. In this whole day, Kence didn't stopped. He doesn't even want to eat even though the City Lord said that he should eat first
He was like a maniac of cultivation. Eye bags were already forming around his eyes
"Disciple, you should eat first. You didn't eat anything for the whole day" the City Lord sighed as he can see his past self on Kence. He was like this too before, the only thing on his mind was magic, magic, and magic
He already lost count of how many meals he missed because of it. He only wished to pursue the highest form of magic. Too bad that when he became a Rank 3 Magician his cultivation barely made any progress
Circulation of magical knowledge for Rank 3 Magicians were very strict. It's like he was walking in the dark. Even though he looks like a mighty God in front of his citizens but in truth in the whole world, he was only above average
Every City would at least have one Rank 3 Mage. The more the rank 3 mages they have the more powerful they will become. As Soaring Ice Magic only has him as a Rank 3 Mage, their city was at the bottom ranks among other cities
He can only depend on himself to learn more. If he wants to gain higher levelled magical knowledge, he needs to either join powerful clan or organizations or make an expedition to the 'Forgotten Lands'
The first choice was something he doesn't like. With his strength, he would have a higher status than normal people but among rank 3 mages he would be at the bottom. He's just like Calter, he doesn't want his life to be in other people's hands. He wasn't descendant from powerful clans and they won't give him much while the powerful organizations didn't nurture him from young and they won't trust him too much. Unless he can become powerful even among the rank 3 mages his service would be underpaid
The second option on the other hand was too dangerous. Even mages more powerful than him will easily die inside the forgotten lands. He wasn't afraid of danger as it was often accompanied by opportunities but the chance of gaining something and leaving there alive was too low. He can't die until his first disciple, Caizha gained enough strength to support herself
Comprehending magic with just his own mind was too hard making his progress to stagnate for a long period of time