!!!!! Pr Credits To Draconis Von BloodTrap & Dragonofsomesort Please take the time to rep them for their work :)

IMPORTANT

Here is an early release with a question from me to you guys the readers. so as you all know i started spectral regalia a couple years back. that being said i have improved a lot and i'm not shy to say this, because this is sort of an issue. the issue is the quality of my chapters from the beginning to now is drastically different. i was thinking of rewriting the first 50 or so chapters just to look better, i'm not changing anything in the plot i just feel like it needs to be written better with the current skill i have. though i also know down the road 2 more years from now when i'm still writing i will have improved even more, which is why i am iffy in regards to this, i mean would i be wasting my time writing something only to rewrite it to look neater and better a couple years from now?

I wont make a poll i of course would like to know some opinions, i know many of you will say "i'm the author i should do as i'd like" but i'm not the reader who has fallen for this story i need to take into account all those who have boarded this bus.

that being said, spectral regalia pacing at the moment, from the last few chapters has been smooth sometimes it isn't good to just focus on action and look at the intellectual side of a fantasy world i want to show you how rich and diverse and detailed i can make a world, i don't want to just show you how quickly Avrin & co can tear it apart.

The dark matter heart that Avrin has does not destine him to be a full fledged fighter as a general in his former life he is also a thinker, one who needs to focus carefully and look around him, he needs to make decisions that benefit his kin as well.

i wont say to much more, please enjoy this story.

Also. i will be taking a week break so there wont be a release next week, that being said i have a writers heart and i didn't plan to write any raw's these past few days but i have already *Cough* finished the raws for 144-145 i'm proud of myself that my love for this story is rekindled and that's really what its about, writing what you love.

please post any errors or loopholes found in the comment section or pm me them, preferably comment as i often forget to check my pms and usually have to deal with quite a few :(

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“Well, seeing as you already paid the information fee, I don’t want you to feel ripped off. The Spring institute uses all kinds of methods for alchemy, mainly focusing on herbal remedies. They believe nature is the best source of energy or something like that. The Artificer consortium and the Highland syndicate are a bit different. They are both at each other’s necks. The Artificer consortium is a new player over the past sixty years and focuses on Sigil creation.

They are the main reason why Sigils were brought into the country and helped sway power. From what I know, the Highland syndicate is a group of blacksmiths. I’m sure you know what happens when you have someone take away some of your work, some people are obviously gonna get angry. That’s all I can tell you. It’s really common knowledge.”

Avrin nodded and soon began to walk off after thanking the guard. As he did, the guard called out. “Make sure you stick to the entrance of the market to sell your stuff or the other merchants may not think of you well!”

Heading inside, Avrin was thinking about one of the three groups “-Artificer consortium, huh. It’s a shame for them I plan to establish myself with Sigils. Eitri would surely be ecstatic for a chance to learn about it all. I will just have to learn as much using my own methods. Judging by what the book said, materials are used and combined in a certain manner to gain results whether it be weaponry or armor-”

Avrin stopped as he looked around with awe. At this moment he finally had a good view of everything in the marketplace. It was more like an outdoor bazaar, with hundreds of tents, pavilions, and stands being set up. People were shouting and trying to garner interest, raising their voices to one-up their competitors. Though for as many shops as there were, there were also a large amount of buyers, from families to hardened adventurers and some people who looked as if they would spend money just for the sake of looking cool, even having some well-dressed beauties following them.

Avrin remembered what the inspector spoke of and glanced around. It seems he wasn’t lying. The outer section close to the market seemed to have lesser looking quality goods. The merchants there seemed as if they would cheat you for anything. The currency used was Lucent crystals, but these people seemed to even go as far as wanting to take a copper coin.

They had shifty looks and one could tell at first glance the goods purchased here were not reliable at all. Avrin looked further and saw the middle section of the bazaar was even busier. He could barely see through the crowds. At first glance, anyone could see the merchants in the middle section were enjoying a fairly decent amount of wealth.

Avrin couldn’t see farther than that due to the number of people, but what he did see was a building with several vines and flowers near the front. It seemed like a well made building, but the two buildings not so far from it, one of which had several glowing runic circles adorned at the front and the emblem of a chalice being filled by a flowing liquid, it was indeed appealing as it reminded Avrin of neon lights that were used for several hundred years in Earth’s history.

As for the other building, it was larger than the rest. It had several big chimneys with smoke billowing out, and one could hear the faint sounds of metal being hammered. The top of the building had an open air furnace with fire flooding out into the air, causing it to twist almost like a faint mirage.

Avrin knew these three buildings represented the three establishments he had heard about earlier, but he was more interested in the Spring institute because they focused on alchemy. He had never got a proper lesson in alchemy and felt that it would be important later on, but right now he would pass on that.

Avrin walked around with the large sack on his back, though the moment he came from the merchant entrance several of the shady looking merchants gave him odd looks of disdain and rivalry. They didn’t know what he sold but to them anyone who came through that was someone who would, in the end, reduce the amount of Lucent crystals in one’s pocket their places were still a risk.

Some of the merchants familiar with each other began to speak amongst themselves, wondering who the new guy was. These people were used to each other and over the years they had gotten over their differences.

Avrin looked at the merchants and saw several good spots, but as he walked closer to one of the spots a merchant quickly came and threw several bags down and spoke as if it wasn't anything. “Uhh, this spot is taken. I will be expanding soon.”

Avrin’s eyes narrowed. He knew immediately what these scumbags tried to do but he didn't feel any hate towards them. Avrin simply felt it was a game to play. He wouldn't want to repeat the same thing and ignored setting up near these shady looking merchants. He walked over near an open area where large piles of crates and trash were thrown, near the entrance to an alley; he then reached into the sack and pulled out a thin, stitched together fabric. He placed it on the ground and then began taking out items to set up.

The moment he took the first material out, the merchants that had been inwardly laughing and grinning suddenly felt their faces shrink, “S..shit, isn't that a Flame Plate? Where did this newbie get it?” One of the larger merchants wearing a vest and an undershirt with a ragged turban on his head frowned.

“I don't know… Could he have formed a partnership with some adventurer? Look! That's a Leaf Crystal, and that’s the drill from a four-winged bee! Dammit, compared to my rubbish he can already sell at the mid section.”

One of the skinnier merchants suddenly clenched his fists. “I say we go beat him up and take it all. Wahh!! Two more Flame Plates!” One could see the looks of greed on their faces. Avrin noticed immediately.

He picked up a fist-sized rock and, under the cover of several crates covering his side allowing him to only be viewed by some of the merchants, he crushed it within his grasp into small bits as a show of strength.

Seeing this the merchants felt their hearts drop and their eyes bulge with fear. They knew his action was a threat that if they tried to take action and fight with him then they as normal people would surely face immense pain.

“Ahh, forget it… What’s one new person...” One merchant who sold ruined toy dolls spoke in a mumble. The merchant beside him, who sold fruit that looked rotten, grumbled a bit.

The merchants quickly dropped the thought of messing with Avrin. They were too poor to hire someone to deal with him and they didn’t want to risk anything that would leave them worse off. They could only curse their luck. Though they were not the only ones having their share of bad luck.

Avrin, for an odd reason, wasn’t able to sell anything. It had been two hours and it was now 10:00 am. At most he would receive some curious, skeptical glances from several adventures and people who seemed unsure before they walked on.

Avrin wondered what was going on. He was leaned back against a crate with an assortment of goods and even his Sigil on the small fabric lay across the hard stone surface. “-Strange. Those merchants shouldn’t have much influence-” He thought that maybe these merchants were the reason.

Though as he looked at them he saw they didn’t seem to pay much attention. They were all doing their own things, either reading books or eating as if they didn’t expect to sell anything, though the merchant in the open not too far from Avrin suddenly turned to him and laughed. “Hahahaha, not doing so well huh? Welcome to our world. You think just because you have some materials people are going to trust you? If you’re with us, you’re dealing goods like us. Who would trust someone who sells materials like that in this section of the market?”

Avrin didn’t respond, shut his eyes and folded his arms as he began to think. “-He has a point. People will doubt these materials. They could be well made fakes, so they would rather buy them from the middle section which is guaranteed to be selling the real deal. What a bothersome thing-”

Several more hours passed and the situation was a repeat of what happened before. But at this point, a young man in his twenties wearing green scale mail came over as he looked with shock. He glanced over and picked up one of the Flame Plates. “Whoa… I can’t believe it, a Flame Plate in this section? Hey merchant, how much?”

Avrin raised his head and opened his eyes. He saw the young man and his interest. “Afternoon, Sir. The price is a low, single Haze crystal.” Avrin did his best to speak in a proper respectful tone. He didn’t want to be grouped together with those shady dealers who were watching with envy.

“One Haze crystal? By the Four Heavens, you have five of these. With twenty I could make a full set. Is that a Leaf Crystal! I’ve been looking for one, as I’m gathering materials for a Sigil. Sir, how about you give me the five plates and the Leaf Crystal for a good offer, let’s say four and a half Haze crystals?”

Avrin gave a simple laugh and held his hand up showing all five fingers. “Five Haze crystals and I’ll throw in the Leaf Crystal for fr-” Before he finished speaking a larger, sturdy man carrying a keg on his shoulder walked over. “Tory, what the hell are you buying fake goods here for? Flame Plate? Pfft, I doubt those are real.”

Tory, the young man who was about to agree to Avrin’s price suddenly frowned. “Uncle, you’re saying these aren’t real? Dammit, and here I almost got swindled. I knew these lower section merchants were shady but damn their items are hard to tell apart from the real thing.” The boy basically threw the Flame Plate down as if he didn’t care and gave Avrin a look of annoyance and disdain before walking off with the large man holding the keg.

Avrin was left speechless. He didn’t know if he was to debate and argue that his products were real or to sit there and look confused. Before he could make a decision, the two had already left for the middle section. Avrin could see the other merchants in the lower section holding in their laughs.

With the market reaching its peak in the afternoon, a small creature drawn carriage that was guarded by several individuals wearing a sparkling white armor that looked almost like knights of fantasy novels were riding horse-like creatures beside the carriage and carried halberds that emitted a fiery red aura.

This drew the attention of the crowd, who came to see what was going on, but there had been guards already informed beforehand of whom this was and immediately they kept the crowd at bay.

“Could that be the Acolyte of the Artificer consortium’s headquarters rumored as of late?” One plainly dressed man spoke in a low voice to another. “I’m not sure, but it has the consortium’s emblem. It has to be someone of high respectability.” He pointed to the emblem on the carriages wall.

Avrin, who was seated and leaning against the crate, also watched. At that moment, a pair of pink colored eyes that seemed to give a reflective shine peaked out from the curtain on the carriages window and glanced around with a curious stare. This individual eyed the crowd and then Avrin with no real intention, then quickly shut the curtain of the window. It wasn’t long before the carriage was lead away with the crowd following.

“Ah, what I’d give to learn at the consortium.” The fat merchant with the turban spoke as if he was expecting fortune to drop out of the sky for him. “You? What merits do you have other than being able to eat as much as a Spiral Horned bear?” The other merchants began to laugh while the round merchant’s face turned red from embarrassment.

The day had seemingly gone by smoothly. It was now 4:00 pm and most of the merchants in the middle and all in the lower sections would be closing up shop. The only people who could garner customers past this time were stores with a respectable following or guaranteed quality wears and somewhere men would like to spend their pent up frustration after a hunt gone wrong or a hunt gone right.

Avrin was disappointed. He needed to rethink his strategy. He hadn’t told Calomia or Illisia an exact date or time when he would return, but he felt he shouldn’t keep them waiting too long for the first time. He would stay until tomorrow afternoon before he heads back. Staying in this position until then wouldn’t be an issue, though he would use the time to look around.

“Ahh shit!!!” A short, curly-haired young male in a mix of leather and mail attire rushed around as he looked around with his hands holding the back of his head. He clearly seemed as if he didn’t know what to do. “Dammit, I can’t believe they sold out of daggers! Shit shit shiiiiit!! The captain’s gonna be pissed...” The young man didn’t bother hiding his words, as he seemed haggard and exhausted, as he was rushing about the market place’s middle section.

He then began to run around looking for a weapon that he might be able to use. “-Tomorrow’s the promotion battle, I should have ordered in advance.... My bad my bad!!-” As he ran into the lower sections, he glanced around as he realized where he was.

He then tried to relax as he gave a helpless sigh. “Bah! No use. I doubt these dodgy merchants would have any-” As he was about to finish his sentence, he glanced over towards Avrin and noticed the small, obsidian colored Sigil placed on the fabric. He also noticed Avrin was beginning to pack up.

“-Anything’s better than nothing I guess-” He spoke with annoyance before rushing over to Avrin. “Mister! Is that a Sigil?” Avrin stopped moving and looked up, seeing through the eye holes of the simple white metal mask that this man seemed interested in the Sigil. A grin flashed over his face as Avrin picked up the Sigil.

“Of course it is, though this is a bit special. I’ll give it to you for two Unclouded crystals.” Hearing this, the young man frowned and looked at Avrin as if he was delusional. “Two...two damn Unclouded crystals? You think I’m made out of the stuff? Damn, I knew you guys here were shady, does that thing even work?!”

Avrin didn’t bother to refute him he simply decided to show by action instead. He picked up the obsidian Sigil and spoke “Trigger, dagger.” The Sigil suddenly twisted and began to glow a deep purple, as if it were alive, before it reshaped into dark matter dagger with the Lucent crystal embedded into the hilt.

Avrin then casually turned the dagger upside down before letting go of the hilt. The dagger fell tip first and stabbed several inches into the stone pavement. Avrin then looked up to see the expression on the man’s face and as he expected it was in the shape of an “O”. The young male was stunned and quivering from excitement. “That thing is sharp! Dammit, you have to sell it to me!”

After seeing the expression on his face, Avrin again spoke. “Two Unclouded crystals.” The price made the man pale a little. “Well...you see, we both know it’s not worth that much.. Come on brother, bargain with me...” Avrin frowned and took the dagger before pointing to the hilt. “You think these are easy to make?

This in itself is an Unclouded crystal to give the weapon energy. It’s also done using special methods so that the crystal is capable of absorbing mana. If you haven’t used it in awhile it will reach a certain sharpness. Also, this isn’t just an ordinary Sigil. Trigger Necklace, Trigger Ring, Trigger Bracelet.”

Avrin had a fairly good understanding of the most common concepts of Sigil weapons after reading the book. He knew that Sigils weren’t able to reshape themselves into Sigil form or even accessories after being transformed into weapons. By allowing this, it would open up a whole new realm of opportunities.

The man was clearly impressed as he looked at Avrin. “This....is that really a Sigil? Isn’t it a little too advanced? Mister, where did you find it exactly? Uhh, here here!” The man quickly gave Avrin the two Unclouded crystals. These were not easy to come by, it was nearly two years worth of pay to him, but if he brought this thing that seemed quite unique to the promotion battle he felt he could raise his ability by a level and make up the pay.

“Dear customer, I’m actually a Sigil craftsmen. My methods are new and innovational. I can create an assortment of Sigil weapons, and given the right price, even armor.” Avrin didn’t hold back and seem mysterious. After all, he needed to make himself known to sell more. If he could somehow get word of mouth to spread then it would surely be good, and if in this case it doesn't work out well he would still be well off with an extra Unclouded crystal.

The young man looked around and happily took the Sigil that was in the form of a dagger again, though Avrin’s heart was beating nervously, this was also a test. He wasn’t sure if it would respond to his commands. “Give it a go, order it to form into a ring.” Avrin spoke softly. The young man seemed a somewhat nervous, but he was like a kid at a candy shop.

He saw something good and on the spur of the moment bought it. “Trigger....ring.” The man spoke, and in a moment the dagger gave a light purple glow as it reformed into a ring that fitted itself over his right index finger. The man looked amazed and he laughed, but soon he remembered something. “-If such a good thing is being sold...why is this guy selling here? Hmm-” The young man frowned a little as he rubbed his head. “Ok, ok. Will you be here tomorrow? If this thing acts up, I’m gonna want a damn refund, you hear?” The young man didn’t hide his worry as he spoke to Avrin somewhat aggressively.

“Refund? If it acts up, feel free to come back.” The man nodded before giving Avrin another cautious glance. He looked at the ring with the Lucent crystal embedded into it like a large diamond.

Avrin watched carefully as the man walked off with a more at ease expression. “-First test is completed, but I need to make some improvement. The crystal’s size is too large. I wonder if I can shrink it down somehow,” Avrin glanced at the two Unclouded crystals in his hand. He doubted the man would be back for a refund. In fact, Avrin was so positive he felt if the man did come back it would be to purchase more.

Avrin felt like taking a risk. He understood selling materials at his strength wouldn’t give him much and would slowly allow him to build reputation, but if he went into the business of selling unique weaponry and tools then it would easily allow him to become reputable.

After packing up his things, Avrin headed over to the middle section of the market and was exploring several small shops that dealt with creature materials. Compared to Avrin, they had a much more expansive variety with descriptions and seemed more professional. Avrin couldn’t really help his situation. The shop had the smell of fragrant cologne that seemed to irritate the nostrils, but it did a good job in masking the smell of the creature materials.

The materials themselves were hidden behind a variety of enchanted glass cases and several wooden drawers. The store had a large, bulky guard who wore a set of Flame Plate armor. Avrin didn't doubt that the shopkeeper wouldn’t use the guard to show off what others could have by purchasing at his store.

“Greetings Sir, how can I-...ehh?” The shopkeeper looked at Avrin and felt a little suspicious. He had heard rumors of a new masked merchant and when he looked at Avrin, who was wearing a simple gray robe and white metal mask, he couldn’t help but shake his head. “Dammit, aren’t you that new merchant? The hell are you doing here?”

The man was dissatisfied. He felt as if he had been given a disease. Avrin ignored his rudeness and emptied the materials onto the counter. “Surely you're not going to treat me bad because I'm new around here? I'm just here to sell some of my goods.” The merchant was stunned as he saw Avrin empty the materials onto the counter. The moment he saw a Leaf Crystal, the man wearing a rolled up shirt with a dirtied apron pulled out a monocle and grabbed it, examining it carefully.

As he began picking up materials to examine with some expertise he spoke. “Hmm… I wonder how you came across these… I'm not dealing in illegal goods, you know.” The merchant spoke in dissatisfaction. His tone was harsh, even with other customers wandering around the store. In fact, when he spoke those words he wanted others to hear as a way to boost his reputation. “Are you implying I stole these?”

The man smirked and then shrugged. “How the hell do I know? Look, since you’re new here and I’m not really sure about these, I’ll give you, let's say… 25 Haze crystals for the lot. You know I need to verify if these are stolen and do a bit of paperwork.”

Avrin took a silent breath as he eased up. He didn’t really care about normal Haze crystals. If he needed more materials he would go kill more creatures, but right now he needed some pocket change and the crystals for some other things.

“Deal!.” He didn’t want to argue at all. He would definitely pay this man back for ripping him off another time. The merchant grinned and soon the transaction was complete. The small sack was emptied from materials and replaced with Haze crystals, though Avrin snickered silently.

“-It’s going to be nostalgic to make mines again-” Though when Avrin took several more steps, he suddenly felt his chest tighten. He felt his previously half dormant dark matter heart give a heavy beat, as if it was a generator that had been turned on.

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Avrin's Inner Workings Status

Dark Stage Control ParticlesType 12100%Dark Stage ParticlesType 12100%God Essence WeaponsAstaroth-ScytheLimos-Vajra][tr]God Essence Equipment]Sarcanus-Armor