Rivyn was elated, really pleased that all of his items turned out so well. Now, he just needed to sell them to complete the quest and get those system points. But for now, as things were, the current accommodation wasn't suitable for selling, and Rivyn did have a little plan for that. He then began to reflect on how easily the skill books had come along; he knew his improved mana had much to do with it. He checked his system points.
[Current System Points: 45]
He wanted the next move, which made him initiate searching, in order to find some kind of skill that would help him in the black market where he was supposed to sell such things using a representative. Rivyn wanted it to be an already established shop so that they could deal with the transactions afterwards, giving him his earnings. He scrolled down the possible skills, then one caught his eyes.
[Mask (F) – Conceal your face from all prying eyes. Works only when the enemy has less MP than you. The skill covers the user's features with thick mist, turning them into something a bit different. Usable only out of close combat range.
Would you like to buy Mask F for 20 system points?
Rivyn scowled at the F-rank classifying but imagined, so long as it performed the function, it didn't matter. He confirmed the purchase and watched as his system points dropped to 25.
The Journey to the Black Market
Rivyn stepped out into the night, ready to take matters into his own hands. He found the black market site a week in advance, and with his strength enhanced he could tail the merchants and traders without being found, so long as he kept his aura hidden. Of course, he'd been found once by a C-ranked, and once by a B-ranked detection skill, but those times he'd run fast enough to get away.
He traveled for two days until he saw the outpost of the empire-an awful view of unstoppable deadly flora stretching into infinity, the product of a failed experiment many years ago. The atmosphere there was very poisonous, making this place a no-go area for everyone below rank D. The empire burns these plants down every month just so that they do not develop, but the danger is real.
Inspite of that, the black market here had a field day-protected as it was with powerful barriers against poisonous air.
Rivyn pulled up to the building he had watched a contact disappear into. On the face, there was a modest wooden door, quite unremarkable in appearance. Rivyn emulated the act of the merchant from before, pumping mana into the handle. It glowed softly in response, swinging open. He went inside, and immediately felt as though he walked out of the poisoned outskirts and into the heart of the black market-an inner city district secluded from deadly air, abuzz with activity.
The black market was just like in his imagination, with small stores lining the streets, selling everything from mana cores to rare potions, enchantments, monster parts, and accessories. Most of the customers and shop owners wore masks or obscured their faces with some form of magic. Rivyn followed suit, flipping his Mask skill on to shade his face with a thick black mist. His muscles shrank and heightened slightly to further distort his true form.
He walked through the crowed street looking for a shop that looked both legitimate and discreet. Soon enough, he found a bigger shop with more people going in and coming out-a sign that it enjoyed credibility in the market.
Inside he saw a man who was counting some inventory. Immediately he strode to Rivyn and asked him if he had come to buy something. Rivyn told him that he came to sell, not to buy. The man nodded, and led Rivyn upstairs into the backroom. He knocked on the door, and the voice behind welcomed them in.
There, in the room, Rivyn found a tall middle-aged man standing near the window; a subtle distortion of mana was set upon his face-it would seem that he too had disguised his true features. He turned to him then and introduced himself as Sedar.
"Call me Rio," Rivyn repeated, continuing the false name.
Sedar nodded, really not wasting his time on trivialities, and asked Rivyn what he had to sell.
Rivyn reached into the pouch tied at his waist and pulled out the ten A-rank healing potions he had made, setting them on the table as he waited for a response from Sedar. Sedar's eyebrows arched slightly, but he did not lose composure. He called for an appraiser.
A short stocky man burst into the room in a rush and, with just the slightest tilt of his head in the direction of Sedar, drew his attention to the potions. He began his analysis, casting a glow on the potion. Seconds passed, the glow disappeared, and the assayer turned to Sedar.
"A rank healing potions, he added with an air of surprise.
The surprise was more apparent now on Sedar as he faced Rivyn again. "We'll pay you 80 gold coins per potion, " Sedar said.
Rivyn only raised an eyebrow high at the quoted price but otherwise did not bat an eyelid. "A fair offer," he said, "but I have more to sell."
Just as the appraiser was about to leave, Rivyn stopped him, pulling out ten skill books and twenty accessories from his pouch. Yes, Sedar and the appraiser looked at each other, for neither had expected this. The appraiser let out a soft sigh but got to work, aware this would take some time to appraise.
In about fifteen minutes or so, the appraiser was done.
"Everything else is A-rank, apart from four of these, which are B-rank, the rest are A-rank," he reported.
He nodded his head in appreciative acknowledgement-it was indeed a rare skill on Rivyn's part. "I can give 1,200 gold coins for the skill books and potions and 1,600 gold coins for the accessories.".
Rivyn nodded in affirmation as he extended his hand to seal it. Sedar handed him a total of 2,900 gold coins. Rivyn suppressed his excitement-he had never laid eyes on that much money in all of his life. Slightly bowing, he was about to turn and leave.
He felt accomplished exiting the shop with his now much heavier pouch. But that wasn't the best part, since, in front of his eyes, the system screen flickered.
[Conditions for Success:]
Achieve F Rank – 20 System Points (Completed)
Create 1 Circle – 20 System Points
Create and sell 10 skill books – 5 System Points (Completed)
Create and sell 20 accessories – 5 System Points (Completed)
Create and sell 10 potions – 5 System Points (Completed)
[You have earned 15 system points.]
With that, Rivyn received 40 system points, which means he needed only to make his first magic circle to finally complete his main quest. Mana was never sufficient to build up a magic circuit, but one needed a mana pathway, which was a very elaborative procedure and would eventually enable him to take full control over the working of his magic. He had used mana in its simplest form till now, but he very well knew this kind of simplicity would never work if he wanted to be a real first circle mage. Smiling his way through the market, his mind was already onto the next goal to keep busy with-to master magic and make his first circle.