The Wizard: Starting with Infinite Part-Time Jobs

"I'm definitely going to get ripped off today," Aiden thought to himself, feeling a sense of foreboding.

Before Aiden and Quillins could speak, the vendor introduced himself: "Hello, my name is Charlie."

"I've heard what you were saying earlier. You wanted the Meditation Stone fragments, right? Let me tell you, these fragments are in high demand right now. There are many aspiring wizard apprentices who want to become full-fledged wizard apprentices who are eager to buy them."

Aiden smiled noncommittally and simply nodded.

Quillins said impatiently, "Lord Charlie, I need a fragment of a meditation stone. What is the price?"

"22 magic stones," Charlie grinned, revealing his gap-toothed front teeth.

Quillins was stunned. The magic stone meditation stone fragment was more expensive than he had known, and he was somewhat at a loss.

"Lord Charlie, the market price for these meditation stone fragments is usually around 20 magic stones. You've overpriced them," Aiden said, frowning.

"Things are different now. Many of this year's prospective wizard apprentices are nearing the end of their meditation training, and many are coming to buy it in order to save their last bit of time." Charlie remained unmoved, shrugging his shoulders as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Aiden knew this guy was difficult to deal with, so he remained silent.

Quillins hesitated, his lips moved but no sound came out.

Aiden reached out and stopped him from saying what he was about to say.

Based on Aiden's understanding of him, Quillins would most likely accept this outrageous price.

However, the premium for a single magic stone would take Quilins one or two months to accumulate.

Thinking of this, Aiden said expressionlessly, "I want three in total, for a total of 60 magic stones."

"If it's three, then it's 65 in total." Charlie looked Aiden up and down, still grinning, his eyes sweeping over Aiden as if assessing his wealth.

He continued, "I didn't expect you to be so well-off."

In the Forbidden Forest Basin, even as a formal wizard apprentice, it's not easy to earn magic stones without a special skill.

Aiden spent 60 magic stones at once, so his savings must be even greater, which made Charlie look at him with new respect.

Aiden was speechless. He bought three of them, and this guy only got a discount of one magic stone.

However, just as Aiden was about to say something, a string of unexpected transparent text appeared before his eyes.

"Main profession discovered: Archer - Forest Shadow Apprentice (Rare), Resolution (5%)"

The arrow pointed straight at the seemingly insignificant, worn-out arrowhead.

[Archer - Lin Ying Apprentice]

【Job Level: ★☆】

Resolution: 5%

[Core Abilities: Mastery of basic archery, crafting basic bows, arrow classification, enhanced tracking with natural senses, stealth movement, and simple trap crafting...]

[Special Talent: ? ?]

[Advanced Path: Wind Whisperer ★★☆]

Aiden's face twitched, and his pupils contracted sharply.

"This guy's stall actually has clues to unlocking the main class, and it seems to be the archer class, and a rare one at that," Aiden thought to himself.

He took a deep breath, quickly suppressing his emotions, and casually glanced at Charlie's stall. Various items were scattered haphazardly across the stall.

Besides the three meditation stone fragments placed at the very tip, there were some moldy herbs emitting a pungent smell, a murky yellowish-green liquid in a cheap magic bottle next to them, and some strange things like tortoise shells and animal bones piled together in a messy manner.

"How about it? Want to buy something else? I can give you a discount." Charlie said with a smile when he saw Aiden suddenly stop talking and start looking at the items on other stalls, his eyes darting around.

He guessed that the guy in front of him really wanted the meditation stone fragments, but was trying to save face by putting together something to offset the price. He had seen this kind of bargaining tactic many times before.

Charlie looked confident.

"Yes, you're right." Aiden smiled, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

"Pack this and that one for me, that'll be three magic stones in total. Add that to the previous 65 magic stones, and you'll have a total of 68 magic stones."

Charlie was torn.

The combined value of these items is definitely greater than 3 magic stones. Therefore, he has to give back a portion of the 5 extra magic stones he earned from the meditation stone.

Beside Aiden, Quillins tugged at Aiden's sleeve and whispered, "Brother Aiden, the things he sells at this stall are all very common, and the quality looks worse than other people's. We can just wait a few days before buying them."

"You're right." Aiden nodded thoughtfully. "At worst, we can wait a few more days to buy the meditation stone fragment. Earning money isn't easy, there's no need to waste it."

After saying that, he pulled Quillins away from Charlie's stall.

"3, 2, 1." Aiden counted down in his mind, his lips moving slightly, his hands unconsciously clenching and unclenching.

He certainly wouldn't miss out on this rare archer main class.

If Charlie disagrees, he might offer more money to buy it, but that wouldn't make him happy.

But the sound that followed made his tense shoulders relax.

"Deal. From now on, if you want to buy anything, you can come to my stall, Charlie, first, and I'll give you better prices." Charlie's voice came from behind, his voice filled with helplessness and resentment.

Aiden quickly packed up the three meditation stone fragments, a low-quality magic bottle, a tortoise shell, and the broken arrow with unlock information, and took them away.

Aiden didn't ask Charlie how he got the broken arrow.

"It's best to be cautious. Who knows what this shrewd businessman might glean from his expression?" he reminded himself as he walked.

Aiden and Quillins hurriedly left under Charlie's somewhat pained gaze.

He muttered to himself, "Damn, this guy is really hard to fool. Luckily, I ended up with a worthless, rotten arrowhead, otherwise I wouldn't have made much money. The magic bottle and the tortoise shell are each worth 2 magic stones."

As he spoke, Charlie's face was full of frustration.

……

On the way back.

"These are fragments of a meditation stone. Just give me 18 magic stones."

Aiden was in a great mood, and with a smile, he said to Quillins.

"Thank goodness for your help in the end, otherwise this guy would probably have asked for an exorbitant price."

"Brother Aiden, I'll give you 20 magic stones instead. I just happened to have 20 with me. I didn't expect to run into that swindler Charlie. 20 isn't even enough for the market price." Quillins hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said.

"No need, you've helped me a lot. Consider the remaining two as a loan; you can pay me back later when you have the chance," Aiden said with a smile, appearing relaxed.

He knew that Quillins was a bit proud, so he didn't say anything like "let's get rid of those two."

"Then, I'll pay you back later." Quillins nodded, his pale face regaining some color.

He devoted more than half a year of his efforts to collecting this fragment of the meditation stone.

Finally, I borrowed a few more from Mr. Ironbeard, but as long as it could restore Sera's hope for life, it was all worth it.

Including that experiment with Mr. Tetsuya...