"Here you are," the shopkeeper said with a chuckle as he handed over the Magic Stone.
Colin deftly caught it, slipped it into his bosom, and turned to walk out of the shop, stuffing the Magic Stone into his bulging grey purse while he walked away from the shopkeeper.
By then, he could say he was much wealthier than before...
However, in this world, wealth did not bring him the same sense of security as it did in his previous life.
As he stepped outside, the weather was clear. He suddenly felt a notion and headed towards the market.
'Maybe I could buy some Knight Combat Skill or something... After all, a Magic Stone is just a Magic Stone in hand, but it becomes valuable when turned into strength,' he pondered quietly to himself.
The Sunlight Breathing Technique had only the practice method but no accompanying combat skills. As a result, he now had the rank of an Advanced Knight, but not the matching combat power.
He arrived at the market.
Colin wandered around but did not find any stalls selling Knight Combat Skills.
But that was normal, too, whether it was the shops in the mountains or the market. Most of the goods sold were related to Wizards.
Secret magic books, Wizard Tools and Robes, Magic Crystals, and various materials from demons were all readily available.
But something like the Knight Breathing Technique could only be seen on very rare occasions.
He looked up at the sky, and it seemed there was still time before nightfall.
He hesitated, then continued towards the foot of the mountain.
The island's mountain wasn't high and had a gentle slope.
The entire settlement was situated on the southeastern side of the hillside, with the highest point being the Lap Wizard Territory; at the foot of the mountain was a small city.
The island had a population of eighteen or nineteen thousand people, including ordinary folks. Among them, about eight or nine thousand were Wizards, and most of them were Basic Level Apprentices.
Of the less than a thousand Wizards left, most were Intermediate Apprentices.
And the Lap School was the only force on the entire island, with the sole Official Wizard.
Thinking all this, he walked for a long while and finally saw a city gate, about four or five meters high, with yellow-grey earthen walls extending on both sides of the same height.
Four burly men in steel armor were standing at the gate, each carrying a long sword on their back.
Their strong vitality hit him in the face.
'They must be Great Knights,' Colin guessed to himself.
It was only upon arriving here that he truly came to the settlement on the island.
Previously, the area on the mountain near the School was inhabited by Wizards of at least the Intermediate Apprentice Rank.
It was closer to the Magic Stone Veins under the Lap Wizard Territory, where the concentration of magical energy was relatively higher,
and only capable Wizards could live there.
Most other Wizards and ordinary people were more likely to live in the small city at the foot of the mountain.
Approaching the city gate, Colin noticed a grey plaque above the archway.
Although the lettering was already quite blurred, he could still make out the words "Blackstone" if he looked closely.
Under the respectful gazes of the Great Knight Guards below, Colin withdrew the identity badge he had pulled out of his pocket and stepped into the city.
The original owner had been here a few times before. He was not unfamiliar with this small city and easily found his way to a bookshop.
Before entering the shop, he pinned the School Badge on his chest then slowly stepped inside.
The shop wasn't large, and it resembled a jewelry store from his previous life more than a bookstore.
Each book was solemnly kept in a sturdy iron cabinet.
Some particularly valuable ones were even kept inside small protective shields.
The shopkeeper was resting behind the counter at the time. He glanced at Colin as he entered, and upon seeing the triangular badge of the Lap School on his chest, he quickly stood up and greeted him enthusiastically,
"Sir, welcome, what can I do for you?"
"Do you have any Knight Combat Skills?" Colin nodded slightly in response.
He was not surprised by the shopkeeper's attitude; the Lap School was the undisputed ruler of the island.
"Yes, sir, everything in this cabinet here."
The goateed shopkeeper led Colin to a cabinet on the left side and then dug out a thick sheet of paper from underneath, handing it to Colin with both hands.
"Here you are, this is the catalogue."
Colin took it with a nod.
The contents of the catalogue weren't extensive, mainly listing names, brief descriptions, and prices.
He looked for quite a while but did not see anything satisfactory.
Combat skills of mortals were indeed quite weak.
"I will take this 'Radiant Light'," he said after a moment's hesitation.
The list on the yellow paper ranked combat skills into six tiers based on their strength, and the most expensive tier offered just three combat skills, each with its secret technique.
Colin selected one that seemed the most powerful from the description... although it wasn't all that powerful, he could only hope for the "Golden Paper Limit Breaking."
After paying a piece and a half of magic stone and signing a Universal Contract, with terms such as for personal use only and not to teach others,
the bearded shopkeeper finally opened the steel cabinet and handed him the shining book.
Colin flipped through it casually, frowning slightly.
"What's the issue, sir? Is there a problem with the book?" the bearded shopkeeper asked anxiously, his heart skipping a beat.
"It's nothing," Colin shook his head, denying it, then turned to ask, "Do you know where I can buy a rapier?"
This shining book, he had briefly looked through, was a combat skill book focused on thrusting attacks and recommended the use of a rapier.
But the knight sword from the original owner's house was a regular long sword.
"Yes, sir. I know a place," the shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly replied, "It's just two doors away, a shop that specializes in knight swords."
Colin nodded slightly, put away the shining book, and prepared to go purchase a rapier.
With 1.5 magic stones entering his account daily, he could indeed be considered wealthy.
When he was about to step out of the store, he suddenly paused, stopping in his tracks.
Across the street, outside a general goods store, a familiar blonde young man was hurrying along.
'Charlie... What's he doing here?' Colin wondered.
Coming here didn't require a report to the School like going to places such as the Dark Forest,
but normally School members wouldn't come here without reason.
'Could it be that he, along with Jeff and the others, was coming here the other night?' Colin recalled their previous encounter.
He had thought that Charlie and his companions had probably just gone to the market outside the Wizard Territory,
but now it seemed, maybe they had also been coming here that evening?
Colin stepped back into the shop slightly, waved his hand to calm the nervous shopkeeper, and then peeked at Charlie from behind the counter's cover.
Charlie, oblivious to his gaze, hurried along and eventually turned into a small alley not far to the left.
After his figure had completely disappeared, Colin left the shop, his gaze flickering towards the alley where Charlie had vanished.
But then he quickly withdrew his gaze and headed to the shop that sold knight swords on the right, as the bookstore owner had directed.
'Not to worry over matters that shouldn't concern me, not to do things I shouldn't do...'
The walls of the knight sword shop were adorned with all kinds of knight swords.
"A rapier? Please wait a moment, sir. I'll go look for one," the burly shopkeeper said with respect.
Before long, he came back carrying a stack of long, narrow boxes.
Opening the boxes one by one, they contained rapiers of varying lengths and designs. Since Colin had stated his preferences in advance, all that were brought were of high quality.
Choosing a rapier didn't take Colin much time; he had always believed in getting what you pay for and went straight for the most expensive one, priced at 1 magic stone.
The rapier was called "Bee Sting," and together with the handle, it measured approximately 95 centimeters, with a simple, unadorned round guard.
With that, today's task was completed.
Colin strapped the Bee Sting to his waist, his mid-length golden hair sleek and shining, and his azure eyes sparkling. Combined with the muscular physique obtained from practicing the Sunlight Breathing Technique and today's outfit of a shirt and waistcoat, he was the spitting image of a handsome young knight from a theatrical play.
He subconsciously caressed the exquisite scabbard of Bee Sting.
A man's fondness for weapons is etched into his very bones.
In his former life as an ordinary person, he seldom had the chance to handle a real knight sword.
In this world, without a phone or internet,
apart from sitting by the window to enjoy the sea breeze and view, the thing he did most during his brief rest periods was play with the original owner's knight sword.
'Now I have a new knight sword to toy with,' Colin thought with a smile on his face.
This Bee Sting, worth 1 magic stone, was clearly of much higher quality than the ordinary knight sword left by the original owner.
Though its appearance was simple, its details exuded elegance.
As he walked along the road, Colin frequently wanted to draw it and swing it around a few times.
Unfortunately... this was the city.
But once out of town, there would be plenty of bushes and shrubs on the mountain roads to indulge in.
With this thought, he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
But soon after, he let out a wry, self-mocking laugh.
He inexplicably remembered a time from his childhood in his previous life, when after school, he had found a long and straight stick next to a sprawling field of rapeseed flowers.
Indeed, once he had the stick in hand, there was no end in sight to the ten-mile stretch of rapeseed blossoms.