Above the mage

Chapter 44 Return

If I say half a month, then half a month means it.

After the last day of the Spring Sprout Month, the Green Leaf Month begins, and the city begins to flourish with greenery.

Gao De delivered five sets of basic spider venom potions to Phil's Potions Shop and purchased enough green spider sacs from Phil's Potions Shop to last for half a month.

After doing all this, he went to Pierre's Grocery Store and was surprised to find that the store, which had been closed for half a month, was now open.

The familiar old man was now leisurely reclining in his deck chair, basking in the warm morning sun, looking quite content.

Gao De's face lit up with joy as he moved closer.

"You little rascal, you haven't been watching my shop every day, have you? I just got back yesterday, and I've only been open for half an hour today. I haven't had a single customer yet, and you're already here."

Pierre also noticed God's arrival, shifted his body, and stood up somewhat reluctantly, greeting him.

"What a coincidence." At this moment, Gao De's mind was filled with the magic scrolls and the anxiety of possibly getting rich soon.

"Alright, I know what you're thinking," Pierre was a shrewd man and wouldn't keep people in suspense at a time like this. "Wait a moment."

He moved the recliner aside, went into the shop's warehouse, and came out a moment later.

When Gord saw Pierre come out of the warehouse, his eyes lit up.

The old man was holding a scroll in his hand!

"I say you're lucky, kid. The Striking spell is used very rarely. The scroll masters of the Emerald Alliance only made three Striking spell scrolls last year."

"Of the three scrolls, one was put on the shelves for sale, one was taken by the mages in the organization, and this one was left over, which I managed to get my hands on."

While boasting about his achievement, Pierre handed the reel to Gao De, saying, "Let's check the goods."

Gao De accepted the spell scroll as if it were a priceless treasure and examined it carefully.

The spell scroll feels extremely tough and dense to the touch, with delicate fibrous textures that give it a natural and classic aesthetic, suggesting it is made from finely processed animal hide.

The parchment must have undergone special treatment to ensure the long-term preservation of magical power.

The edges of the scroll are decorated with runes and magical symbols drawn in dark ink.

These patterns are not merely decorative; they contain the key to unlocking magical power.

The reel itself is tightly wound up, and the two ends are tied with rope in a slipknot. It can be opened with a gentle pull.

"It can be untied without triggering the magic inside, don't worry," Pierre interjected, noticing God's restlessness and hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Gao De immediately untied the slipknot and unrolled the scroll.

What came into view were incantations written in a strange script.

These words seem to possess their own life, occasionally flashing a faint light, revealing the magic they contain.

Gaode didn't recognize the characters because they were magical script.

Unless he possesses the [reading magic] or is proficient in this magical script, he cannot understand it.

However, this does not prevent him from using spell scrolls.

To use a spell scroll, simply open the scroll, concentrate your mind on the incantation on the scroll, and silently recite your specific intention to release the magical power sealed within the scroll.

Of course, before using it, the user must first identify the spell and level on the spell scroll.

In addition, the user's mental strength must reach a certain level, otherwise they will not be able to control and activate the spells in the spell scroll.

The spell scroll requires the user to have one less spell ring, at the very least a mage apprentice level, to have the mental strength requirement.

In other words, a mage apprentice can use 1st-level spell scrolls, a 1st-level mage can use 2nd-level spell scrolls, and so on.

After examining it for a while, Gao De re-sleeved the reel and smiled.

"You've really helped me a lot."

"It's just business," Pierre shrugged casually. "The scroll cost 7 gold, but the meal I treated you to to some favors isn't yours."

He extended his right hand, palm up, and presented it to Gao De.

Gao De quickly rummaged through his pocket, counted out seven Sean gold coins, and handed them to Pierre.

Pay in one hand and deliver in one hand.

After working hard to sell medicine for a period of time, Gao De had just felt that he was in a better financial situation and had accumulated 21 gold coins. However, he was brought back to square one.

"There are only 14 gold coins left in the account."

"And in a few days we will need to buy a batch of wormwood and snake tooth grass seedlings to plant in the medicinal herb garden."

"Otherwise, at the current rate of consumption, the output of these two herbs in the herb garden will not be able to keep up with the consumption rate by the end of the year."

"If it really comes to that, then all three main ingredients will have to be purchased from pharmacies, and the cost of making medicine will rise from the current 20-25 silver to 30 silver. The profit per set of medicine will be 10 silver less, which is too meager."

"These herb seedlings must be bought, and there can be no delay."

"Buying seedlings is one expense, and then there's the additional expense of purchasing fertilizer for cultivating them."

After considering this, Gaode once again exclaimed that it is applicable in any world.

It's not easy to find a place to live!

"I can only pray that the legacy of Master Seda won't disappoint me."

Although Gaode Maps is fairly confident that it will experience a "major surge", what if it doesn't?

What if Master Seda is a cunning old fox and pulls some kind of anti-routine trick?

It's not entirely impossible that the box, which appears to be heavily protected, actually contains nothing, and the truly valuable items are displayed in the most conspicuous place.

If that's the case, aside from cursing "Old Deng" a few times, there doesn't seem to be anything he can do.

You can't just dig up someone's corpse and whip it to vent your anger, can you?

"The recent strange occurrences outside the city may not be as simple as we think."

Seeing that Gaud had put away his spell scroll and was about to leave, Pierre hesitated for a moment, but finally called out to Gaud, kindly reminding him, "You should stock up on some food in the meantime, so that you won't be caught off guard if something bad really happens."

"Hmm?" Gao De was startled and quickly and humbly asked, "What do you mean by 'bad thing'?"

Based on his understanding of Pierre, he did not believe that the old man would speak out of thin air or make alarmist claims.

The fact that they would give him this hint means they must have discovered something.

"It's hard to be sure right now, but the increase in the number of ley line creatures is definitely for a reason. I originally thought it might be due to the maturation of some high-level magical plants that caused the ley line creatures to gather."

"But this has been going on for too long," Pierre said, his expression becoming more serious. "With such a long time, the magical plant should have matured long ago. I can't be sure what's going on right now, and I need to observe the situation further."

"My gut feeling tells me that something bad has probably happened, but I don't know if it will affect us."

Pierre sighed and then revealed a bit more, "The reason I went to Bremen this time is to make arrangements for my escape route. If things go wrong, I should probably run to Bremen."

"I hope things don't get to that point. After all, people can run away, but my shop can't."

He's getting on in years; if he really abandons the shop and leaves, he probably won't be able to find a new way to make a living in Bremen and will have to live off his savings.

This is the choice we would make in the worst-case scenario.

"So, if you can, you should try to make some preparations as well," Pierre said, leaving the rest to the point.

"I understand, thank you for reminding me." Gao De nodded seriously, his mood unconsciously becoming a little heavy.

(End of this chapter)