The Black Iron Glory
Black Magic Market

Chapter 90

Black Magic Market

Claude was very impressed with Maria's spell, if for no other reason than his judgment in choosing her. Luminous Pearl is an excellent light source. Pearls are not as bright as a light bulb, but they beat candles and lights several times over. And the fact that they use mana instead of materials as their fuel source makes them much more convenient.

The appraisal was not worth considering because he already had a superior version of the spell. Water Barrier has its advantages, regardless of what Maria might believe. He was not in the gravel at all, nor did he have to go out often in the wild, so he did not understand how important protection for a few minutes was to those elements.

As for Chill, he had access to the diagram for the Freeze formation. He could only carve it in the next hexagram as it was too complicated for the first one, and it was still too much for him to use with carvings while at his current level. However Landes did not tell him what could be done with the spell outside of its use in the experiment, so he did not fully know its use. Go figure, as far as Landes is concerned the only thing in the world is his experiment …

Despite the limits of his coverage, Claude doesn't think Chill is as harmless as Watch thinks he is. With the right mold, he could freeze the water into a dagger or small knife, which would melt after use, leaving no trace of who made it or used it.

Breath of Water is just as beneficial as Water Barrier. Even if it was only for ten minutes, being able to breathe underwater opened up all sorts of possibilities. Hydrogenesis is a very simple mantra. Claude suspected the vapor was condensing the steam in the air into liquid water, and he suspected the amount of steam in the air was limiting how much it could be expelled.

The Kindle is basically a personal fire lighter.

Apart from the Appraisal, he wanted to learn all of Mary's spells. He probably wouldn't carve Chill into the second hexagram, but it was a useful gap until he could use Freeze. Even if he did not use it, just having it in the repertoire would be a huge improvement. Claude wasn't registered, so he couldn't buy a spell, and, even if he could, he didn't have any money.

He could only beg Mary to teach him. If he wanted to, he was more than willing to trade the five spells he had told him for them. If he didn't want it because it was forbidden, he could always offer him the remaining 30 shaliuns. The spell was much more valuable to him than coins that he could not even use.

"Are you willing to teach me a mantra? I'll teach you the five I know in trading," Claude offered sincerely.

"Why did you learn such a useless spell? You even want to exchange your spells with them?"

The baroness looked at him doubtfully or for a long time, then laughed out loud.

Claude's stoic expression broke.

"Please don't laugh at me like that …"

Maria gasped for breath and had to struggle to control her lungs for a while.

"I ... don't mock you .. Pffft–" His hand covered his mouth to muffle laughter. "If I don't believe you're a rookie, I believe it now. You really don't know the basics! I'm not going to lie to you, I really want to learn those spells, but I can't afford them. You don't have a foggiest clue how much it's worth, "his face was sad when he spoke.

"Whatchu mean? You can exchange your spell for mine!" Claude said, a little worried.

If he could pay 45 gold crowns for a crocodile, surely he could afford some basic spells!

"You don't know how precious your spell is," said the baroness sternly, "My spells are about ten crowns each. Not only are your spells much stronger, they are also forbidden, which makes them almost priceless on the black magic market.

"Take the Magus Hand as an example. You can easily sell it for 200 crowns. Of the other four, only the Eye of Appraisal was that generous. Good control, Decomposition, and Reconstruction can each sell for 250 with ease.I can't buy it even if I sell all my jewelry. "

Whahuh? That common spell is so precious? Then what about all the other spells Landes recorded?

"I'm willing to trade them for your spell .." he continued begging, but the baroness shook her head.

"I insist," asked Claude again, "You can choose one of my spells. You can incline the difference until thank you for your answer to my question."

Maria looked at him for a long time, but saw nothing but sincerity, and finally nodded, a faint smile on her lips.

"alright. I want to learn the Eye of Appraisal. The other four complement each other and only really work their best when used together. The Eye of Appraisal is directly related to my Appraisal, and I might even be able to carve out a judgmental Formation. "

The exchange was much more mundane than Claude had imagined. The two parties simply drew a formation on a piece of paper along with some notes and explanations, and exchanged. Each side only had to carve out a formation in their empty space to check its authenticity, so there was no point in trying to deceive each other.

Mary drew eight diagrams. The additional one was Summoned Breeze, and, as the name suggests, it let out a gentle breeze for a few minutes.

"It should only give 20 percent off," the baroness said as she handed the bedsheet to Claude and picked it up.

"Can you tell me more about the magical black market, Milady?" Claude asked after pocketing the sheets.

"This is your typical black market, except dealing with things related to magic. Most of the people who use it are evil magi like you. I've heard some rumors saying that the magi of Cyclos ran it from the shadows, but no one really knows. The kingdom had tried to shut it down many times over the centuries, but it simply disappeared like mist in the sun and reappeared elsewhere a few months later. You will not be able to enter without a guarantor from within. "

"What did they exchange? Money, or magic?"

"Both, but they don't use normal coins. They used a shaliun" the Baroness took out a gold coin and dropped it on the table gently. "- This can only be made by the magi. They do not wear from time to time; they always look like they are newly printed. You will see a soft golden circle if you use an Appraiser on it. Each one is worth about 20 crowns, even though the bank only gives you two. "

Wait, he's got thirty shaliun .. which makes him rich! But even more interesting, was the fact that he now had a way to obtain the materials he needed for an array.

"Can you be my guarantor?" Claude half whispered.

"What's? You want to auction your spell?" Maria asked, a seductive smile crawling her face.

"No, I just want to broaden my horizons," Claude replied a little too quickly.

"Don't sell your spell. You can't guarantee your safety if you put your valuables out there. The people whose attention you attract can find you no matter where or how well you hide, and they win "I'm not interested in paying for your spells. Not to mention Watch will not miss such a famous sale in their region. They're gonna be you faster than maggots on dead bodies."

"Thank you for the reminder, Milady. I really just want to find more spells. I only have five, and I don't have any more with me, so I need to find another place for more. I hope to find two fight with spells to fill the remaining spots in my hexagram. "

The baroness considered his words for a while, then shook her head.

"It won't be easy.Combat spells were extremely rare, even on the black market of magic. And when they do, they are very expensive, you won't have any money for it, unless you trade your five spells, but then you go back to the problem we just discussed.

"And then there was the problem of black market magic being in the royal capital. I'll take you on a tour if you ever come to the capital, but I doubt you'll find a useful spell."

"May I ask you to keep an eye on anything when you get back, Milady? I'll trade the other four spells if you can find them" Claude shortcuts.

"Only if it doesn't bother me too much—" Maria put down her now empty glass and stood up. "–Time is over. Come on, let me show you my lab."