At that moment, the seven bone spurs on the little skeleton's back suddenly waved in the air with a creaking sound. As the barrage of javelins, long spears, and battle axes were about to land on the little skeleton, the seven bone spurs instantly detached themselves from the little skeleton's backbone and swirled in the air, dancing in an intertwined pattern in front of the little skeleton and above its head with great whooshing sounds.
The little skeleton held his ground, wielding the bone knife, and his little body flailed about as if in an epileptic fit. The seven bone spurs drew mysterious curves through the air, as if manipulated into a dance by invisible hands at the will of the little skeleton.
There was a constant cracking sound as the flying spears, javelins and battle axes were struck down and broken by the intertwining seven bone spurs. Not a single one made it near the small skeleton's body.
Han Shuo pinched his own waist and only knew that this moment was truly real when he felt pain radiating from his side. Not only could the small skeleton manipulate the bone dagger and face enemies, it could even activate the seven bone spurs on its back and make them form such a terrifying weapon. This made Han Shuo feel that the little skeleton was truly incredible at this moment.
The 'Law of Activating Magic' was a law that activated magical treasures to attack. The last time Han Shuo had inexplicably transmitted these memories to the small skeleton (TL note: Chapter 27), he had seen the small skeleton immediately activate the bone dagger in a flying dance. That was enough to astonish Han Shuo, but now that the little skeleton could even activate the seven bone spurs on its back, Han Shuo was completely baffled.
To activate the 'Law of Magic Activation', in addition to an understanding of the law, a magical treasure that was bound to the life of the caster and shared a mind with the caster was also required to naturally invoke the law. It seems that, unbeknownst to anyone, the seven bone spurs and the bone dagger had become the small skeleton's magic treasures under the constant reforging of the magic yuan.
Han Shuo did not have any magic treasures on hand, so he could not activate the 'Law of Activating Magic', but who would have thought that a dark creature, a little skeleton, would have gone ahead of Han Shuo and been the first to successfully activate it?
"Oh my god! What, what kind of monster is this little skeleton?" Fabian let out an excited, high-pitched moan, calling out in a low voice with his tongue tied and his eyes bugging out.
After the flying spears, the long spears and the battleaxes had been destroyed, the forest trolls were also completely shocked. The seven bone spurs that had been circling around the little skeleton's body suddenly flew in all directions, piercing the bodies of the seven stunned forest trolls.
"Demon, this is a demon in a skeleton's body. Run!"
An extremely panicked and terrified scream came from the mouth of one of the forest trolls. It was as if this was a signal to retreat, for all the forest trolls began to run for their lives in different directions, like lost dogs. Even the leader of the forest trolls had nothing more to say as he ran off in a heedless sprint.
The development of a situation was always so unexpected. Han Shuo had only planned to break out and escape from here, and hadn't reckoned that the seven bone spurs of the small skeleton would be equipped with such terrifying power. By the time Han Shuo had recovered, there were more than ten forest troll corpses strewn about, and no living forest trolls left.
"Hahaha, good boy, good boy!" Han Shuo suddenly felt extremely proud and couldn't stop laughing wildly.
At the same time, the seven bone spurs whirled around in thin air and then landed precisely on the little skeleton's spine. The little skeleton then stood up straight, bone dagger in hand, and began to search the forest trolls' corpses with practiced movements. He took everything from the corpses except their clothes.
"Give me the other hundred gold coins." Han Shuo smiled lightly as he let Fabian down from his body and asked for the rest of the money from a still shocked Fabian.
At that moment, Fabian's eyes were still patrolling the small skeleton's body. He only came to his senses when he heard Han Shuo's voice. Just as Fabian was about to take out the gold coins, he suddenly thought of something and glared at Han Shuo. "No... you dared to use me as a shield when you fought the forest trolls just now. Your actions have completely damaged the position of the employer. How dare you think about the other hundred gold coins?"
His face suddenly stiffened with a cold stare, Han Shuo's icy gaze sweeping over Fabian's body. He randomly picked up a spear from the ground and asked lightly, "Mr Fabian, are you trying to cheat me?"
On the other side, the little skeleton that had been collecting the spoils of war suddenly stopped as well, its empty eyes staring at Fabian.
Cold suddenly ran through Fabian's body as his heart gave a shudder. He reluctantly forced a smile out of his face and took a few timid steps backwards and said: "Just kidding, it was just a joke. Heh heh, haha, here's a hundred gold coins and not a single one missing. You've done a great job."
Han Shuo made a light "hmm" as he put the hundred gold coins away without further ado. A feeling of carefree enjoyment rose in his heart as he thought that mighty strength is never unfavourable.
"Noble warrior, the items of the forest trolls..."
"Mine, all mine."
Han Shuo abruptly interrupted before Fabian had a chance to finish, matter-of-factly assuming that all those items were his spoils of war.
Fabian forced out a forced laugh and continued, "Of course, of course they're all yours. I mean, I can buy the items you've taken from the forest trolls."
His brow furrowed, Han Shuo looked suspiciously at Fabian and a smile made its way to his face. Han Shuo mimicked Clark and bowed urbanely, "Does Mr Fabian mean to say that he plans to buy these items from me with gold coins?"
That face changes quickly! Fabian cursed inwardly, put the same smile on his face and nodded. "Indeed, I am a merchant and venture in and out of the Dark Forest to purchase items found there and then bring them back to the realm for profit. As notorious robbers within the Dark Forest, the forest trolls should have some of what I need. If you don't mind, I'd like to buy them from you.
At that moment, the little skeleton silently walked over and stood beside Han Shuo with eight handbags hanging from his hands. At Han Shuo's command, the little skeleton put the eight bags down and used the bone dagger in his hand to open them one by one. Han Shuo also took out the treasures he'd collected on this journey and placed them on the ground to await Fabian's appraisal.
"Eight level 5 magical creature cores, six level 4 and one level 3. Three complete windblade wolf pelts, three poison lizard fangs, one deepwater poison python egg, and five mooneating grass blades. I can give you a thousand gold for all this together, what do you say?" Fabian silently appraised the items after categorising them all and lifted his head to smile at Han Shuo.
Shaking his head, Han Shuo said with a strange air. "This is nothing. The Deepwater Venom Python is a level 3 magical creature. Its egg alone should be worth a lot, not to mention the core of a level 3 magical creature. You only offer one thousand gold coins... do you take me for a fool?"
Han Shuo knew that the price for a level 3 magical creature wouldn't be too low, but he didn't specify how many gold coins he was offering because he wasn't sure of the actual price. However, it was a given that merchants would always offer a price far below the market price, so Han Shuo naturally wouldn't let him have the items so easily.
"The Deepwater Venom Python is a level 3 magical creature, but the success rate of raising a Deepwater Venom Python from an egg is pitifully low, and there's no guarantee that it will identify someone as its master. So the price can't be too high. How about this, I offer 1,500 gold coins, what do you say?"
Han Shuo said nothing and just looked at Fabian with a slight smile.
"Two thousand gold coins, that is my final offer. If you're not willing to sell then forget it, I'm leaving!" Fabian gritted his teeth and finally raised his own price by another five hundred gold coins.
Since this was about the limit, Han Shuo smiled slightly and said weakly, "Two thousand it is. The items are yours, but what about the gold coins?"
These items would surely be worth more in the Empire, but Han Shuo was still in the Dark Forest and without a space ring, it would be inconvenient to take these things with him. Besides, Han Shuo's status was that of an errand slave in the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force, so it would be difficult for him to dispose of the items in the Empire. It would be easier and more convenient to hand them over to Fabian directly.
"This is a crystal card with two thousand gold coins stored in it. You can take this crystal card to any savings bank and exchange it for gold coins. Oh, right, what's your name? I can print your name on the crystal card for you." Fabian took out a thin card made of golden coloured crystals and asked Han Shuo.
"Bryan."
"Oh, okay Bryan." After taking out the crystal card, Fabian took out another thin, needle-like object and drew it lightly over a thin slit in the corner of the crystal card. A faint golden light flickered and the crystal map returned to normal.
Han Shuo had been in this world for a while, and after deliberately getting to know this world, he understood that a crystal card in his original world worked like an ATM card. Gold, silver, and bronze coins were all tangible items with weight. No one could possibly carry thousands or tens of thousands of gold coins. These crystal cards were a necessity for nobles. Crystal cards could be used at will in the ubiquitous savings banks to deposit or withdraw gold coins.
"Here, Bryan, this crystal card is yours from now on." Fabian handed the crystal card to Han Shuo and smiled at him. "My name is Fabian, I am a member of the Empire's Boozt Merchant Guild. You can find me at the guild if you have anything to sell in the future. This is my address, put it away carefully.
The Boozt Merchant Guild was one of the largest merchant guilds in the Empire. Controlled by the Boozt family, even Han Shuo, who didn't know much about rumours and news, had heard about the wondrous resources of the Boozt Merchant Guild. Upon hearing Fabian's words, Han Shuo immediately carefully put down the crystal map and smiled, "Mr. Fabian, nice to meet you. Perhaps I really will have something to bother you with in the future. The forest trolls won't dare bother you now, and our business is concluded. Goodbye."
Han Shuo didn't say much after these words and gave the little skeleton an order. A man and a skeleton quickly disappeared into the distance.
"Hello brave mercenaries. I think our business can continue." Fabian called to the mercenaries who were tending to their wounds and walked towards them when he saw Han Shuo suddenly disappear.