Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  "…" Gerian gasped in surprise. The Mannes Family was the ric.h.e.s.t in all of Felan Kingdom. Who knew how much good stuff they had hidden in the 1300 years after the Dark Ages. Gerian had never once imagined such thing as getting to choose any three items…

  Chapter 45 - Sky-high Price

  Not long after the ric.h.e.s.t man in Jarrosus left, Gerian came over with a creepy look on his face.

  "That kid wants to discuss a business deal with you, are you interested?"

  Lin Li knew the old fellow had to have gotten something good judging by the look on his face. "What business deal? Tell me…"

  "Three bottles of Magicka Potion. As for the rewards…" Gerian raised up three fingers and his expression was slightly exaggerated. "You get to choose any three items from the Mannes Family's equipment bank!"

  "Not interested!" Lin Li replied without even thinking about it.

  "F*ck!" Gerian felt his legs turn weak, and his old illness almost relapsed from the scare. The old man barely managed to steady himself by holding onto the chair and didn't even have the time to straighten his tilted hat; utterly discomfited, he roared, "You're not interested?!"

  Faced with the President's sudden rage, the group of mages were scared silly at once. They looked at Gerian with trepidation and desperately shrank back for fear that the old fellow might spill blood on them. For the moment, there was a big space around Lin Li, and he sat there by himself as if nothing had happened and still had the time to stretch out his hand and point to Gerian's head, kindly reminding him of his image.

  "Your hat is tilted…"

  "Oh…" Gerian was taken by surprise at his words and quickly straightened his mage hat. But halfway through, he remembered the reason for his anger. "Damn it, don't change the topic. I'm asking you a question, are you sick? The Mannes Family's hoard is something that many people could not dream about. You get to choose any three items from them and you're still not interested? Are you trying to piss me off, you little bastard?"

  "Sit down first, I'll explain to you slowly…" Lin Li pulled Gerian back to his seat and continued, "Say, you're an old man, how could you still have such a big temper? It'll hurt your health if you get too agitated easily… To tell you the truth, it doesn't pay for this business."

  "How does it not pay?" As soon as Gerian heard the word 'business', all his anger was gone. In particular, he was dumbfounded when he heard that it would not pay, and looked at Lin Li with confusion on his face.

  "The Magicka Potion is not that easy to concoct as you think it may be."

  Gerian got anxious at his words. "Even you're unable to concoct it?"

  "Not that it can't be concocted, it's just that the ingredients are not easy to get." Lin Li shook his head and held out his hand, counting each and every one out for Gerian. "The essence of two elements, fire and water, the blood of a high-level demon, magical crystal above level-fifteen. Can you get all these items?"

  "I have a level-fifteen magical crystal, as for the others…"

  "So, don't think about it."

  Lin Li concluded with the sentence.

  Actually, there was another reason that he did not reveal—mainly because he was worried it might frighten Gerian. The old man was 60-something this year, and if anything happened to him, it would lay heavy on Lin Li's conscience.

  The Mannes Family was indeed the ric.h.e.s.t in Jarrosus. Lin Li had no doubt they had an abundant collection in the family. But choosing three pieces of equipment had no meaning for Lin Li. He was a guru well-versed in five series; as long as the ingredients on hand were enough, was there any equipment he couldn't get?

  Gerian pondered over it and was unwilling to give up. "If not, I'll go ask Ysera again to see if he has enough ingredients?"

  "Then you go and find out first…" Lin Li was not really interested in this deal, but Gerian was so enthusiastic it didn't seem nice to cast a damp over it.

  At this time, he was actually more concerned about the auction going on in the hall.

  There were only ten Arcane Magic Potion bottles left now, but out of the three families, two still had their eyes on them.

  Particularly the Saruman Family, which hadn't gotten a single bottle yet. Now, the three bottles had completely driven them to the edge of the cliff. It was just as what Old Merlin had said before: 30 level-five mages coming into their own hands would be an icing on the cake, but if it fell into the hands of a rival, it would definitely be a deadly threat.

  "500,000!" So, Kevin's gavel had just come down when Reuben Saruman announced a startling figure.

  Lin Li and Gerian looked at each other. The auction had far exceeded their estimates—hundreds of thousands of gold coins and 100 sets of excellent magic equipment; if the last ten bottles were sold for a sky-high price, the two men would probably be reduced to the point of smashing people with money.

  Both their eyes were glowing, but Little Merlin Evan was utterly regretful.

  If he'd known that things were going to get this far, he would have made his move sooner. Nine bottles were sold off consecutively earlier on, and if he had gotten them, he wouldn't have been forced to fight at such a close range with the Saruman Family. Reuben Saruman was a lunatic, and a lunatic would not reason with you. Just look, this bastard had offered the princely sum of 500,000 at the beginning. Was he going to leave a damn way for others?

  Little Merlin felt his scalp bursting at that price, but he had no choice except to shore up his offer. Before he left the house, Matthew had instructed him to at least get ten bottles of Arcane Magic Potion back. There was only a pitiful three bottles with him now, not even half of ten bottles…

  "550,000!" Little Merlin said with utmost resolution, going completely head on with Reuben Saruman.

  But what kind of a character was Reuben Saruman? He was someone who said he'd kill his father and brother and really did it without even batting his eyelids. He raised the price by another 100,000 once more. "650,000!"

  Little Merlin felt his heart bleeding. He only had 800,000 gold coins with him. If he went with that lunatic Reuben's increment speed, it would only take two rounds for him to be kicked out of the contest for the Arcane Magic Potion.

  "700,000!" Little Merlin felt his liver churn when he shouted the price out…

  "800,000!"

  As soon as Reuben Saruman uttered the price, everyone present fully believed the fellow to be a lunatic. 800,000 gold coins were thrown out without even a wrinkling of his brows. This was an absolute sky-high price! So what if this was the Arcane Magic Potion? With this 800,000 gold coins, you could get ten level-five mages with a just a throw of the money…

  "…" Little Merlin could see nothing but blackness, and blood was almost spat out from his mouth. This fellow was really a lunatic. He didn't even have the strength to speak; he barely managed to lift his arm, and with the idea of leaving things to luck at last, he quoted a price with much difficulty, "8… 820,000…"

  "You win."

  Chapter 46 - Dividing the Spoils

  No one had expected Reuben Saruman to let go at this time.

  Sitting in the hall were leaders of the city's forces; how could they not see that Little Merlin was already a spent bullet? From the previous unstoppable momentum of a 100,000 increment to the last dying struggle of a 20,000 increment, everyone knew that this was all the cash the Merlin Family could offer.

  At this time, even an addition of 10,000 would be enough to completely crush the Merlin Family, but Reuben Saruman did not do that. He watched Kevin's gavel fall and let the stunned Little Merlin bring home the last ten bottles of Arcane Magic Potion.

  "Deal! Congratulations, Mr Evan!"

  Until Kevin announced that it was a done deal, Little Merlin still stood there, dumbfounded. The feeling was too complicated; it was like a battle between two archmages: one saw that his mana was exhausted and struggled to unleash an icicle at the last moment, but as a result, the icicle stabbed the opponent right in the heart…

  It was as if h
aving survived a disaster, and Little Merlin was immersed in it for a long while…

  Little Merlin did not realize what was wrong as Reuben Saruman turned around to leave.

  When Reuben Saruman passed by the last row, he dropped a word to Gerian without a look back. "You owe me a favor!"

  On hearing these words, the old and the young sitting at the last row couldn't help but laugh. This fellow, who did not even recognize his own kin, was indeed good at forbearing—just like Gerian said.

  In the face of the Guild of Magic that was at its height of influence, he had wisely chosen to take the initiative to befriend them.

  And the way he demonstrated his friendly intentions was simple and straightforward. For this auction, the greatest benefit was undoubtedly to maximize the value of Arcane Magic Potion, forcing out the bottom line of the Merlin Family with an astounding price. This alone was enough for the Guild of Magic to owe him a debt of gratitude.

  But on further thought, this was like a magic show. It looked like dancing on a tightrope, but in actual fact, it didn't involve much risk.

  He had created an aggressive momentum at the beginning, and at the end, he crazily got to an increment of 100,000, forcing the breath out of Little Merlin. But he was desperately calculating all along, figuring what was the exact bottomline for Little Merlin. Finally, he succeeded in pushing Little Merlin to stake all he had with a bid of 800,000.

  Little Merlin had won the Arcane Magic Potion at last, but Reuben Saruman had won the favor of the Guild of Magic.

  And the risk he had undertaken was not that high as he had imagined.

  Even if he had miscalculated, he'd only have had to buy ten bottles of Arcane Magic Potion with 800,000 gold coins. It might be a little expensive, but he could still win the favor of the Guild of Magic nonetheless. The most foolish person would not reject a generous buyer, much less a shrewd person like Gerian.

  The Merlin Family could only envy. Since the battle between Old Merlin and Gerian, there was no possibility of any partnership between the Guild of Magic and the Merlin Family. But it was still possible for the Saruman Family and the Mannes Family. The patriarch of the second family had chosen to take the wise path, though he had taken a slightly different approach…

  Regardless, the Guild of Magic indeed owed the Saruman Family a favor. Though upon careful thought, it would seem that this favor was a rather cheap one…

  The auction finally came to an end. The old and the young had brought out 33 bottles of Arcane Magic Potion and harvested over a million gold coins, 100 sets of excellent magic equipment, and a Guild of Magic at the peak of its power.

  After this auction, everyone was clear that the Guild of Magic would be the single most powerful force in Jarrosus. Regardless of the 11 mage families or the six underground forces, no power would be able to contend with the Guild of Magic.

  The leaders of the forces sat in the guild hall with different expressions on their faces but the same thought in their minds. Some of the clever ones were already planning in their heads how to hold on to the Guild of Magic. Even the slightly slow-witted ones were reminding themselves to control their men when they got back. They were not to approach and provoke any guys in Jarrosus City who were wearing long robes…

  The follow-up work could not be sloppy for such a grand auction like this.

  The leaders of the major forces who had attended the auction had to be served well. The gold coins they sent would need someone to count, of course; meanwhile, the 100 sets of excellent magic equipment sent by the Mannes Family should be open to the guild mages to apply for. All the matters were in a mess, and just thinking about them would make anyone's head ache.

  However, the old and the yound took their hands off all of it and dumped the matters to Kevin. They openly hid in the reception room on the grounds of having something important to discuss.

  The important thing they meant was to divide the spoils.

  To these jerks, the dividing process was undoubtedly filled with joy and p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

  One million five hundred and forty thousand gold coins were divided into two shares. The Guild of Magic would take 300,000 and the remaining 1,240,000 would all go to Lin Li. After all, for this auction, the herbs and work were all provided by Lin Li alone. The Guild of Magic had merely lent him the space, so it would be perfectly justified to give him the bigger portion of the pie.

  Moreover, there was the 100 sets of excellent magic equipment…

  "This is your crystal card, that 1,240,000 is in it. You must keep it well. It'll be big trouble if you lose it." Gerian tossed him a translucent crystal chip with a few small letters etched on it with star sand. Lin Li took a look and realized it was the name he used in Anril.

  "How do I use this stuff?" Lin Li was a little perplexed. He knew that the crystal had a memory function and was often used for recording after being processed by magical means such as magic spells and sound image. But, he was puzzled by a thin crystal card like this…

  "I really don't know how Andoine has taught you…" Gerian was full of disdain. "Glittergold's crystal card can be used anywhere in Anril. There's a Glittergold Bank in every city in general; if you need money, you can withdraw it directly. Surely you wouldn't want to carry the gold coins around? That's over a million we're talking about. If melted into a golden ball, it'd be as tall as a house, can you even carry it…?"

  "Oh…" Lin Li carefully put away the crystal card and took out the deep silver necklace from his pocket.

  "The Enigma Sapphire is yours, the necklace is mine."

  With a slight use of strength, Lin Li pulled out the Enigma Sapphire from the necklace. He tossed it to Gerian without even taking a look at it. Although storing mana was a powerful ability, to Lin Li, it was not really of much use. If his almost-infinite mana was exhausted, one more piece of Enigma Sapphire would probably make no difference…

  Gerian received the gemstone cheerfully and then leaned in for another look. He asked curiously, "What exactly is this necklace?"

  "Deep silver, something you don't understand."

  "…"

  After coming out from the reception room, Lin Li dived into the guild's alchemy lab before he could catch a breath.

  He couldn't wait any longer now that he had the deep silver in his hands. He really wanted to know the kind of magical power a gold bar coated with deep silver would possess…

  Chapter 47 - Gold rod

  All the mages were gathered in the guild hall for the auction. When Lin Li entered the alchemy lab, it was quiet with no one in sight.

  Feeling assured, he opened up the Ring of Endless Storm.

  Looking at the dazzling array of metal ingots, even Lin Li himself had to admit that he was some kind of freak of collectormania. From the cheapest copper and iron ingots to the expensive adamantine and mithril ingots, and then to all kinds of magical metals that were rarely seen in everyday life, there were actually dozens of kinds when counted together…

  What Lin Li had to do now was to select the materials for the gold rod from the dozens of metals.

  The gold rod was different from weapons and equipment. It wasn't that the higher the grade of metal, the more powerful it would be. This was more like a trade-off: using ordinary metals would bring a higher level of stability for magical enchantment and greatly reduce the possibility of enchantment failure, while using magical metals as material would bring stronger enchantment effect. Different magical metals would also result in different enchantment effect.

  For a high-level magical enchanter, stability would always be the first priority.

  No matter how powerful the enchantment effect was, if it was not supported by stability, it would only be a joke in the end.

  Hence, almost all successful magical enchanters would choose the Eternal Adamantine to forge the gold rod.

  The Eternal Adamantine was known as the most stable of all metals in the world. A gold rod forged from it could also increase the success rate of enchantment by at least
ten percent!

  Lin Li had always been cautious. When he had begun to jolt his magical enchantment profession, the use of Eternal Adamantine had always been his aim. He had even prepared several pieces of Eternal Adamantine in advance for this purpose.

  He had never imagined that he could get the deep silver one day.

  Now that Lin Li had the deep silver in his hands, the metals that he could choose were just too many.

  The stability of gold rods coated with deep silver already reached an appalling level. What he had to consider now was how to maximize the enchantment effect brought on by magical metals.

  In front of Lin Li were three magical metals—dream iron, abyss mithril, and rune's adamantine. He had chosen them from the array of metals. Although there were many other magical metals, they were inadequate in various ways and did not fit Lin Li's requirements for the gold rod.

  Only these three magical metals would task Lin Li's mind.

  Forging the gold rod with dream iron might bring magical dispelling effects to the equipment.

  Forging the gold rod with rune's adamantine would greatly enhance the element attributes.

  Forging the gold rod with the abyss mithril would allow the equipment to possess a higher resistance to magic.

  All three were rare magical metals, and getting even one of them would be enough to keep a mage awake at night. Perhaps only a beast like Lin Li could take out all three at once, and this led him to face a blissful problem.

  … All three magical metals were so excellent, but only one could be coated with the deep silver he had on hand.

  This was indeed a big dilemma for Lin Li. After spending an hour in the alchemy lab, he finally came to a decision with clenched teeth.

  The effect of strengthening element attributes was too singular, and the magic dispelling effect could only activate with a certain probability. After weighing the gains and losses, Lin Li chose the abyss mithril at last. Compared with strengthening element attributes, the application scope of magical resistance was much wider and could work every time—unlike the magic dispelling effect, which could only depend on luck.