The butler Johann was surprised when he saw Mark cast a spell. Johann mentioned that Hamil didn’t inform him that Mark was a mage. He thought Mark was an eccentric rich foreigner who wanted to see what products he could purchase in the city, which included magic items.
The butler led Mark to a large establishment which according to the prominent sign at the front was the “Wizard Emporium.” Mark was able to read the local word for “wizard,” but he needed help from Johann to understand the second word “emporium,” he was glad that he was now able to read some words and soon, he would be literate enough to not need help from locals in reading the common language.
At the entrance of the Wizard Emporium, a grand-looking man who Mark thought looked like someone who was cosplaying as a wizard went to talk to Johann. He thought that way since the man, although wearing a grand-looking wizard robe, didn’t have an ounce of wizardly presence. Johann introduced the man to Mark after a few seconds of talking with each other.
“Mark, this is Abel, the manager of Wizard Emporium who is also a mage apprentice.”
“Good afternoon. As Johann said, I was given management of this establishment by my master, a wizard of the fourth circle. Unfortunately, I was given this task since I’m not talented enough to advance further in my wizard studies.”
Mark was surprised at the man’s candid and when Johann saw that, the butler added that he introduced Mark as a powerful foreign wizard.
“I would like to browse what’s available, and can someone guide us who can introduce the product to us?”
Abel, the manager of the establishment made a gesture, and a beautiful girl went to them. The manager then told Mark and Johann that the girl, named Sarah, would be their guide within the establishment and would give a description of the products Mark was interested in.
Sarah gave them a tour of the magic items store. According to her, the first floor of the mega store were magical items below the first circle meaning that the spells contained in the items and or artifacts were only as powerful as cantrips like the Light spell or Mage Hand. The second floor included items and or artifacts containing spells from the first circle like Detect Magic or Entangle. So basically, the higher the floor, the more powerful the items were but unfortunately, past the second floor, you would need to be an important person or know someone to be able to browse the items located there.
The first items that their guide introduced to them were accessories as per Mark’s request. On one section of the first floor, there were a lot of accessories, from rings to necklaces, to brooches, earrings, watches, and more.
Sarah presented them with one of their best sellers, the Ring of Gust. A ring containing the cantrip spell Gust. Mark identified the ring and based on the spell description; it was a weakened version of his Void Push spell. The item only contained one charge and would need thirty minutes to recharge. Sarah’s description on the other hand was colorful. She mentioned that the ring would give the holder the ability to summon a gust of wind that would push his enemies away in an emergency, therefore saving his life, and would “only” need around half an hour before the ring could be used again.
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Mark was again surprised when the girl mentioned the price. The low-level ring cost seven hundred gold coins. Not only that, but Sarah also informed them that the items on the third floor and above could only be purchased using mana stones.
Mark thought of his Rune Engineer skill tree. At first, he thought that he wouldn’t need it so much since his spells, especially if he leveled them up and continued exploring his dungeon so he could gain more levels and new spells, were powerful enough for him to not need magic items but based on what he could see, he would need to focus on it a bit and not treat it as a hobby since he could only replicate gold and not the mana stones since he couldn’t replicate items with mana in them.
After several minutes of browsing, Mark asked Sarah to guide him to the second floor and he was disappointed with the items there as well. Items from the lower level of his dungeons were more powerful since they provided Mark with additional stats.
Mark bought one item which was The Rod of Fire Bolt for a thousand gold coins so he wouldn’t leave empty-handed. He wasn’t really interested in the item since it could only cast one Fire Bold every thirty minutes, but he didn’t want to leave without purchasing anything and be thought of as poor.
Mark informed Sarah that he was done browsing and told Johann that he would like to leave. The butler said his goodbyes to Abel, the manager of the store, and rode their carriage.
“Mark, I sensed that you are unhappy with the items that you’ve seen in the store. Am I right?” The butler asked Mark.
“Yes, the items there had very low power levels and unfortunately, we’re not able to browse the high-level ones.” After that comment, both men went silent inside the carriage, resting.
After several minutes, someone knocked on the carriage’s door.
“Hey, you people inside the carriage, step down!” Mark was surprised. He saw the butler had a grim face.
“The driver betrayed us and led the carriage somewhere where we could be easily robbed.”
Mark felt amused. He was actually being mugged right now. He and Johann went down the carriage and they were confronted with six people who looked like your typical ruffians. He noticed that the carriage was driven somewhere remote, and the driver was waiting by the horses.
“What is the protocol in these types of situations, Johann? Am I allowed to kill them?”
“Yes, since you are the victim, but I highly recommend that you subdue them since they could account for all the crimes they have committed so far.”
When the robbers heard their conversation, they laughed.
“Hey, the foreign pretty boy and the old man think they could “subdue” us.” One of the robbers said while laughing.
Mark then used his Telekinesis to take hold of the six thugs making them unable to move. He included the driver for good measure. He lifted the robbers using his mind and bunched them together while the butler looked at him with awe and a little fear.
“Can you drive, Johann? Let’s go to the nearest authorities.” Mark said while controlling the group of people like it was nothing. The robbers and the drivers had a look of utter fear on their faces and most of them had suspicious wet pants.
Mark and Johann rode the carriage while the robbers were floating beside them. When they arrived at the crowded section of the city, people stopped and looked at the floating stuck people in surprise and awe.