Above the mage

Chapter 25 O'Kenley

Hogan, city square.

Hogan City’s annual trading day is held in the middle of the month of Awakening in the city square.

The specific time is from the 14th to the 16th of the Awakening Month, a total of three days.

Today is the first trading day.

After leaving Pierre's grocery store, God immediately brought all his possessions to this place.

The city square is very large, a wide expanse of blue bricks, and it is now crowded with people.

These people included commoners, small merchants, impoverished family members, and servants of noble lords.

Nowadays, these people from different backgrounds have set up small stalls around the city square, just like vendors.

The items for sale are incredibly diverse; they sell all sorts of things. Gaode Maps even saw someone selling a few oddly shaped stones picked up from the riverbank.

At these various stalls, one or two people would occasionally come up to take a look or ask a few questions, but very few transactions were actually completed on the spot.

Seeing this, Gao De couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He came here for one purpose only: to find a bargain on Taobao!

To improve one's strength, in addition to strengthening oneself, using external resources is also a means.

However, Gaode's current savings do not support him in purchasing external items that can enhance his own strength through legitimate channels, so he can only hope to find a bargain.

Of course, in a small place like Hogan City, without certain channels and influence, it's highly likely that even if you have money, you won't be able to buy any magical artifacts.

Unlike big cities, magical alchemical creations are extremely rare in Hogan City!

With these thoughts in mind, Gao De continued walking and arrived in the middle of the open space in the square.

It was already getting dark, but the magic crystal lamps set up in the square were now lit up, making the square brightly lit.

Moreover, as the magic lights came on, the number of people in the square began to increase, and even the number of vendors increased slightly, who were probably "employees" from the city who had just "finished get off work".

Like everyone else, Gaode walked slowly along the square, looking at each stall one by one, trying to find some good treasures.

Among all the people in the square, he was definitely not the first to have this thought, nor was he the only one.

It is obvious that finding a bargain does exist, and there are certainly stories of ordinary people making a fortune by finding something extraordinary at a street stall.

However, this requires sufficient luck and foresight; most people generally end up gaining nothing.

Gaode Maps, however, did not have that kind of luck.

He wandered around many stalls but still didn't see any "suspicious" items; they were mostly everyday items such as pottery jars and iron swords.

He was drawn to a stall that had a dozen or so people gathered around it.

After wandering around for so long, this is the first time Gaode has seen such a lively stall.

What good stuff are they selling?

Gao De couldn't help but join in.

The stall owner was a young man wearing a slightly worn but still finely made robe, though the once intricate and beautiful patterns on the robe had become blurred and indistinct.

He is most likely a member of a small family that has fallen on hard times.

Gaode made a judgment immediately and then glanced at the goods displayed on the stall in front of the young man.

Some finely handcrafted ornaments, a few old books, and some worn-out trinkets bearing the marks of time.

The reason it attracted a crowd was because someone took a liking to one of the strange, rusty, ivory-like bronze objects.

"Ten gold coins, not a single one less!" the young stall owner shouted.

He picked up the ivory-like bronze object and pointed to the mark in the upper right corner, saying, "See this mark? That's the mark of the Oakenli Merchant Guild!"

Gao De had never heard of the so-called Oakenley Chamber of Commerce, but his gaze still unconsciously drifted toward the symbol.

It was a six-pointed star, with a mysterious hieroglyphic symbol in the center.

Just like the patterns on the young stall owner's robe, they have become blurred and indistinct due to the wear and tear of time, making it impossible to discern their exact appearance.

"Do you know the Oakenli Merchant Guild? They're the most famous magical alchemy and crafting guild on the entire continent. Their magical alchemy products sell like hotcakes, and demand far exceeds supply. Without certain connections, you can't buy them even if you have money!"

The young stall owner continued to boast, "The fact that my treasure bears this mark is enough to prove that it is a magical alchemical creation of the Oakenli Merchant Guild."

The young stall owner's confident claims about "magical alchemical creations" attracted even more attention.

Mages are synonymous with power. Anything related to magic is undoubtedly a treasure, mysterious and powerful, how can it not attract attention?

The person who took a liking to this bronze object was a middle-aged, overweight man.

He wasn't fooled by the young stall owner's words and slowly interrupted the young man's boasting: "First of all, this mark is already blurred and unclear. In its current state, it's impossible to prove that this must be the mark of the Oakenley Chamber of Commerce."

"Secondly, even if this is the mark of the Oakenley Chamber of Commerce, it doesn't prove anything."

"There are plenty of unscrupulous merchants across the continent who forge their marks. The likelihood of products from the Oakenley Merchant Guild appearing in a place like Hogan City is very low. I certainly don't believe it."

"Finally," the middle-aged fat man curled his lip and said, "this thing can't be called a magical alchemical creation. It clearly doesn't have any magical fluctuations anymore. Either it's damaged, causing the magical power to leak out, or it wasn't a magical item to begin with."

The young stall owner wasn't embarrassed by the middle-aged fat man exposing his boast, and still argued confidently, "It's just that its magical power has been lost, but it was originally an extraordinary magical item."

"If you take it to a big city, find a repairman to fix it, and then resell it, you can easily get sixty or seventy Sean gold coins."

"I wouldn't be selling it if it weren't for an emergency!"

The middle-aged man was clearly an expert. Pointing to the markings on the bronze object, he said, "Kid, don't think I don't know anything. Judging from these wear marks, it must have been damaged for ten or twenty years. It's hard to say whether it can be repaired."

"Even if it can be repaired, the repair cost for this level of wear and tear will definitely be high, and it is still unknown how much power it will regain after the repair."

"I bought it at a high price, and then I traveled all the way to a big city to find a skilled restorer, hoping to gamble on a perfect restoration. Do you think I'm a sucker?"

"If there's such a good deal, why don't you do it yourself?" the fat man said with a smile, his tone seemingly sarcastic.

The surrounding crowd burst into cheerful laughter.

The young stall owner blushed. "Then tell me how much you can offer?"

"Two Sean gold coins." The fat man held up two fingers.

"How is that possible? These materials alone are worth two Sean gold coins!" The young stall owner was clearly unconvinced.

"That was when it was first made. Now it's worn down like this, so the materials are naturally worthless." The fat man was telling the truth.

"No, no, if you want to get a bargain, go somewhere else. You're not welcome here!"

The young stall owner was first bullied by the fat man, and now he was being ruthlessly ripped off. Feeling resentful, he lost his temper and started chasing the customer away.

"Young people are so hot-blooded," the fat man said calmly, his eyes narrowed as he smiled. "It's alright, I'll leave now. You can see if there's any sucker willing to pay this price. I'll come back on the last day. If you still haven't sold it and have come to your senses by then, my offer will still be valid."

"Even if it rots in my hands, I won't sell it to you!" the young stall owner said angrily.

The fat man shook his head, chuckled, and left.

Once the excitement subsided, the crowd gradually dispersed.

To be honest, the items at the young vendor's stall weren't very appealing.

With no excitement to be seen, people naturally lost interest in lingering any longer.

(End of this chapter)