Unedited*
It was clear that it had been well maintained, but keeping it in such impeccable working order despite the passage of decades was no easy feat in a world of constant change like this one.
Over the past few hundred years, the only thing that hasn’t changed is The Link System, which remains the sa; even so, it has evolved, adding new features from ti to ti.
So magical tools don’t maintain their functions so flawlessly over ti, unless they’re occasionally rebuilt. But this sword is worth more for having belonged to the legendary Emperor Saki than for the kind of use one might put it to.
That’s why they wouldn’t rebuild it.
The fact that it still functioned so well over ti only reflected how impressive its original construction had been.
"The people of Shadow Island would pay a fortune for that sword," Lucius said suddenly.
The man laughed and nodded. "We’ve already been contacted about it. However, under local laws, foreigners who want to take a local treasure out of the country have to pay many tis the set price. And this sword was designated a Local Treasure six months ago, so I’m not sure they’ll be able to reach an agreent."
’They might even pay 20 million for it, if necessary,’ Lucius thought.
In his past life, he had far more money than a re 20 million, so for high-ranking individuals, especially those of S-Rank, paying that amount for an ancient treasure was simply a matter of opening their wallet.
And on Shadow Island, there are quite a few S-Ranks. Furthermore, their current Emperor is one of the strongest n in the world.
As they browsed and listened to the man—who just wanted to do his job and not have to deal with any more custors—Lucius and Clara made their way to the end of the hallway and then went up to the second floor, where the exhausting discussion about tools continued.
The man really did know his stuff; he was well-prepared.
As soon as they climbed the last step to the second floor, Lucius turned his head to one side and carefully examined the first of the tools on display.
"Wow, you have convergence tools here. I haven’t seen one in a long ti," he said with genuine surprise.
Clara didn’t recognize the tool, but the man turned to look at him.
"It seems your knowledge isn’t limited to just Rank F."
Lucius smiled and moved a little closer to the tool.
"Neither of us has knowledge limited to Rank F, sir. But it’s always good to brush up on one’s knowledge, isn’t it?"
The man stared at him. "I don’t think soone capable of identifying the type of tool from a fossilized one needs to brush up on their knowledge." He laughed.
Lucius shrugged, and the man proceeded to explain.
"No one knows where this tool cos from, but it’s 300 years old. I don’t know much more than that, other than that it’s a ’spiritual convergence’ type of tool."
Lucius nodded, thoughtfully.
Any fossilized tool less than a thousand years old ans it was in the Kalgarth Ground until it was found. Only the cursed energy of that place could be powerful enough to fossilize sothing so quickly.
So he didn’t need to ask where it ca from.
But he had other questions. "Why is the price so low?" he asked.
The price was a thousand credits—a very low price for a 300-year-old tool.
"That’s because it’s a tool with cursed energy concentrated inside it—energy that’s far too powerful. It’s practically impossible to study it in this day and age. You might have to wait another 300 or 500 years for the energy to dissipate naturally before you can investigate it. But it could take longer—up to a thousand years. Its fossilization was unusual."
"Can I touch it?" Lucius asked bluntly.
From the mont he learned it had such a high concentration of cursed energy, he had been interested in it.
The concentration of cursed energy in a tool that fossilized in such a short ti is common. However, not all magical tools can fossilize so quickly.
It must have sothing inside it that was able to draw vast amounts of cursed energy toward it, forcing its fossilization—sothing that would be amazing for early research... at least that’s what he knew.
But since this world was so vast and diverse, he didn’t jump to any conclusions. Perhaps there was sothing he didn’t know. That was precisely why he wanted to take a closer look.
The man simply nodded, went to grab the glass case where it was, and carried it to a table set up in the middle of the enormous, long room.
"You’ll have to be careful. The cursed energy can sotis be aggressive," the worker reminded him.
Lucius nodded and picked it up. Without thinking, he opened the lid... His hair was blown by the breeze, and his face was struck by the cursed energy.
There really was a great deal of it.
Lucius smiled and went to grab the magical tool. However, halfway there, Clara stopped him.
"W-why would you want to touch sothing so dangerous? It’s cursed energy in high concentrations!" Clara reminded him.
"It’s okay," he replied. "The cursed energy isn’t as aggressive or dangerous as you think. It’s just corrupted mana."
Before she could protest again, he placed his hand on the chunk of stone with a strange fossilized plate in the middle and lifted it up.
Clara quickly pulled her hand away, feeling uneasy. The worker also took a few steps back.
anwhile, Lucius simply watched it intently from side to side.
He used his own mana to study it directly.
His eyes reflected nothing, but inside, he was in turmoil.
’It’s a very valuable tool, but I can’t look deep enough into it because of the nurous barriers it has. Where do these barriers co from? Is it the earth, the cursed energy, or sothing within the tool itself?’ he wondered.
Although he had many questions on his mind, he knew that the tool was no ordinary object. It was special and a convergence tool, which ant that, if he managed to restore it at so point, he could use it in conjunction with other tools.
After examining it for a while and realizing it had special qualities, Lucius looked up at the salesman. "A thousand for it, right? I’ll take it," he said.
The man looked him in the eye. "Really?" he asked, puzzled.
Lucius simply took out his cell phone and used it to scan the code on the box the tool ca in. The Link System asked for confirmation, and after a mont, the System marked the tool as "sold" and transferred everything to Lucius.
Although the man was surprised, after seeing that he quickly nodded and began talking to him about various protocol matters.
A sale was a sale, even if it was one of the cheapest things in the store.
The man had nothing but praise for Lucius and his recent purchase. Clara, however, didn’t see it that way.
She grabbed him and pulled him aside.
"Why did you buy that?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"Because it was cheap?" Lucius replied with a chuckle.
"A thousand credits for sothing fossilized and with such a high concentration of cursed energy! Are you a collector or sothing? That’s not worth much!" she retorted.
Lucius wanted to tell her that he was a collector, but in reality, he wasn’t in this life. In his previous life, he had bought many tools simply to collect them, but that was before. Now he no longer intended to be one, unless future circumstances called for it.
"I just wanted to buy it because I think it’s a good deal. I’ll look into it later and see if it was really a good buy or not. Anyway, a thousand credits isn’t much money for sothing that lasts so long." He replied matter-of-factly, without giving it much thought.
Clara rolled her eyes when she heard him say it was a small amount of money. Wasn’t he the sa guy who’d been complaining that they’d only given him 30 credits when he left ho?
’Tsk, stupid liar.’ She got angry and decided to ignore him.
Lucius stared at her. ’What’s wrong with her?’ he thought.
But seeing that she didn’t seem physically unwell, just ntally off, he decided to ignore her. ’Just don’t die on ,’ he sighed.
The only thing he knew for now was that this tool could be very useful for his workshop. Convergence tools serve many purposes, besides allowing you to use many magical tools at the sa ti, without any interference.
Another of its uses is its ability to learn how to perform highly complex tasks, provided it is bound to one or more wizards. In other words, it can learn complex subjects, such as tool creation, and share the acquired knowledge with other mbers of the sa group.
It’s a treasure!
But getting one is easier said than done, no matter the condition—whether new or old. And if you do manage to get one, it would surely cost a fortune.
And creating them... is even harder.
Even a genius who spent his entire life striving to reach the top, like Lucius, who spent many years forging new magical tools, was never able to forge one.
Only the finest master smiths on the planet have been able to forge them after a very, very long ti.
Finding one in a thousand credits—even if it’s extrely old and no longer works—is practically a blessing. Because if it exists, it’s still likely to work, even though the process of repairing one is also complex...
’I hope it doesn’t ask for dragon’s blood...’ He shuddered as he recalled sothing from the past.
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