Vol. 1 - Chapter 38 - Buying Magic Equipment & Clark Gang Encounter

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"Sir, I am in your sons and your debt for allowing me to walk off with your treasure. This time I returned to pay back a small part of this debt."

Nelmon was surprised by what Mathias just mentioned and asked with a calm voice.

"You were chosen by the spear, correct? This is the reason you couldn't return the spear back then?"

"Well, you could say so. Ragnius is using me, but I also use him in return. He still needs a lot of growth to return to his former state." mentioned Mathias as he took Ragnius from the inventory and showed it to Nelmon.

"Ohh, I see a change in the spear. How did you manage to do this young man?" inquired the blacksmith, touching the spear that remained quiet.

"I can't feel its heaviness, coldness, or burning sensation to the touch."

"That is because Ragnius ego is in a slumbering state. Anyway, sir, I came to pay back my debt in gold, to repair my equipment, and also if it is possible to search for magic equipment for my partner."

"No problem, just call me Nelmon. You say you are looking for magic equipment? I might have something from the dwarf's masters and some of my creations in the back." mentioned Nelmon as he introduced himself to Mathias, who returned the gesture along with Fayrene.

Then the blacksmith took them to his equipment collection that shocked Mathias and Fayrene. From all sorts of armors and weapons, this storage room contained everything a player would desire.

Getting ahead of himself, Mathias also brought out [Midnight], showing it to Nelmon and asking him, as the latter looked with big eyes, moving to touch the armor.

"Sir Nelmon, by chance, have you ever encountered something similar to this armor piece?"

"This is familiar. Where have I seen it in the past? Right, that Syndicate leader, Irenaeus, came to me to repair it. Young man, how did you get your hands on this armor, don't tell me you stole it from that person?"

"Worry not, Nelmon, 'Black Spades' are done for since I killed their leader. I gained the armor after ending Irenaeus. Could it be that you saw something similar to this armor?"

"I doubt, even in my time as a disciple to Lord Antrino, did I ever see something similar to this. But I have this feeling that something is hidden inside the armor. Hah, but let's not talk about grim things and get back to business.

The lady can tour around and search for the magic equipment she desires while you will follow me to the forge. Ahh, another thing, the magic equipment is ordered in a confusing manner, my apologies from the start."

Fayrene, who was beside Mathias, nodded her head softly before telling the blacksmith.

"Lord Nelmon, you are worrying over nothing. Thank you for letting me inside your collection of equipment."

"Heh, for nothing, young lady. Let's go, Mathias, see what we can do for Ragnius."

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Leaving Fayrene alone in the shop, she turned around herself before Nelmon's son, Ralph, came toward her, saying with a silly grin on his face.

"Big sister, do you need my help? I am quite good at searching in dad's treasure troves, maybe because of my luck."

Fayrene turned toward Ralph, and with a soft smile, she ruffled his hair, making a sign with her left-hand fingers to gather his attention. Then after gaining his attention, the young boy could see some white-purple light coming from her right hand.

Like he was in a story that his mom would tell, he saw Fayrene spread out the white-purple light around the room, enveloping it, and with a raise of her hand, the gears she noticed that were holding affinity with mana started raising up, levitating in the air.

"Wooow, big sister, are you a mage? This is awesome! Can you teach me some spells?" asked the young boy with an excited voice while Fayrene just chuckled, patting his head.

"When you grow up, I might teach you some spells. But now you are too young. Magic, while it can do many wonders and awe the eye of people, can also bring harm. You don't want to harm your friends and parents, right?"

"Fine, I will ask you again when I am older, big sister. To tell you the truth, I don't really like the job of a blacksmith that my father wants to put me into. I want to explore the world and learn more things. Magicians were always something I dreamed I could become."

Hearing the young boy that reminded her of her little brothers, she tapped his head and took him with her around the equipment she raised, and while checking the magic gear, she talked with Ralph.

"Let me ask you something, little Ralph. Do you hate blacksmithing?"

"No, not really. I quite enjoy it when I craft my own things. I just don't like when father puts me to do unnecessary work."

"I see, then you shouldn't get dejected and quit doing this. Also, if you still are serious about wanting to learn magic, when you are 16 and your parents allow you, I can teach you magic. In four years, I should be able to teach people my magic after becoming an Intermediate Arcanist."

"Thank you, big sister, Fayrene. I will remember this. You better become famous, so I know where to find you."

"Me famous? Haha, how cute. If you would want to find me, you better search for my future husband, Mathias. He will become greater than you can imagine."

"Ohh, is big brother planning to become the general of the Empire or a noble?"

"Who knows what's in his mind, but he will for sure achieve something great if he puts his mind into it. I'll make sure of this." said Fayrene with a smile on her face as she was looking for the magic equipment.

It didn't take long for her to fancy a dark staff that was giving off a dark blue aura and held great mana inside.

"Hah, I hope this staff isn't expensive. Should I look for Mat's staff? Well, since he hasn't returned, I might just do that."

Continuing her search in the treasure trove holding the black staff in her left hand, minutes by then, Mathias and Nelmon returned back with casual expressions on their faces.

"Fay, did you find something to your liking?"

She turned her body to two, holding in her hand staffs of different sizes with some in Ralph's hands, and said with an awkward voice.

"I found mine, but now I was searching for something for you. Come, let me show you what I picked."

Mathias shook his head while laughing at her and the situation she was in. However, he went to check those staffs that ranged from rare and epic grade items, but one stuck the most to his eyes. It was an epic item that had a peculiar passive.

A staff made from a dark green wood, unknown to him, with a small head of a snake holding in his eyes some green crystals giving off some mana, so their name, 'Mana Crystals'.

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[Cursed Serpent Staff]

Rating: Epic

Durability: 399/399 / Magic Attack Power: 270

* Intelligence will rise by 100 points.

* Magic casting speed will increase by 10%.

* Every time a spell is cast, there is a small chance for the hit enemy to suffer some random debuffs.(bleed, fear, slow, lower stats)

* Magic critical chance is increased by 5%.

* Magic critical damage is increased by 30%.

User restriction: Practicant of Magic

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"Good one. If I get something for myself, this staff will do the job. How much does this staff cost Nelmon?"

"I don't know, is something I bought from Talima at a bargain. Still, I have to feed my family in a way, so I'll give it to you for 400 gold. How does it sound?"

"We got a deal. Now let's see how much you want for Fay's staff. Can you show me what you picked, dear?"

"Sure. There you go." said Fayrene, handing the magic staff she picked, the black one with dark-blue aura being released, and the moment Mathias touched that staff, he felt a chill run down his spine.

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[Chaos Star]

Rating: Rare(Growth)

Durability: 749/749 / Magic Attack Power: 197

* Intelligence will rise by 20%.

* Magic casting speed will increase by 30%.

*When unique magic is casted by the user, there is a chance of giving off chaos magic, causing chaos attacks dealing 200% of your own magic spell power.

* Magic critical chance is increased by 5%.

* Magic critical damage is increased by 70%.

The staff is made from the core of a meteorite, highly energized after colliding with Middle-Earth. It holds the pure form of mana in its body but needs to be nurtured to reach its pinnacle.

Made by an unknown great magician.

User restriction: Practicant of Magic

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Fayrene saw Mathias's expression when he was looking at the staff, and with herself being confused along, she asked.

"Is everything fine, dear? Should I pick another staff?"

"No, no, I was just thinking of something. Sir Nelmon, this staff, did you steal it from somewhere too?"

Nelmon looked at the staff and walked to grab it in his hands and inspect it. Following that, he put a contemplating expression before not long he released an "AHHH" sound as if being surprised by what he remembered.

"Yes and no, this is something I got from Michael, the Soul Sword, to repair his sword. He told me the story of how he got this staff, about some ruins he stumbled on but who was blocked by some invisible barrier. He couldn't go past that point, only finding this staff in the mud."

"I see, well glad to hear you know where this staff came from."

"No problem, Mathias, if you want, I can introduce you to Michael and ask him more details." said the blacksmith before passing the staff back to Fayrene.

"There is no need for that. I got to meet and be acquainted with Michael. Anyway, how much for Fay's staff?"

"Hmmm, let me think since I got it for nothing as if that guy had no use for the staff. Well, since it has a growth potential, I will sell it for 600 gold. Good enough, young man?"

Mathias didn't ponder much on the prices, finding them agreeable, and taking from his pocket 1250 gold placed in a bag, he handed them to Nelmon, who didn't expect such a fast transaction with Mathias.

Taking a look inside the bag, he saw more money than he asked for and wanted to return the extra. Yet he was stopped by Mathias, who said to him with a smile.

"Don't rush to return the additional sum of money. This is just a small part I will give you for Ragnius and the fees for repairing my weapons and equipment. It might seem a small sum, but I will try to pay you back."

"This… Young man, there is no need." said Nelmon, but after being rejected, he could only sigh and remark.

"Fine, I will not stop you. However, come with requests back, so I don't seem like I am profiting over your kindness. I am an Advanced Blacksmith Master who can build many things when it comes to metallurgy."

"Understood. Maybe you will see me more often with requests in the future, but for now, that's all I will require from you. Still, if you get your hands in some mysterious items, be sure to check on Fay and me. We are at the Nightfay Tailorshop." said Mathias as he moved to handshake the callused blacksmith's hands before tapping the head of his son, Ralph.

Fayrene didn't know how to act when she heard how much money was spent for those two staff, but she trusted Mathias and his judgment and didn't intervene.

Lowering all the magical items using her mana, she ruffled Ralph's head, telling him to remember what they talked and after biding her farewell with Nelmon, she exited the shop holding Mathias's left hand with her right.

" I still have money to spend, Fay, so don't get consumed by this fact. Money is something you use to invest back, be it equipment or buying other necessities you require, helping out the ones close to you."

"Sigh, I know what you mean, just that I still have to get used to spending such an amount of money. The most money I would have after selling most of my creations would be 100 gold coins. Yet here we are lavishing in such large sums of money."

"Haha, this is nothing. I might be the richest among my brethren as we speak, but do I look like a rich person?"

"Not at all."

Like this, the two walked back to their home, but unknown to them some thugs followed behind them with a shrewd expression and perverted smiles when watching Fayrene's back, and when the couple entered an alley slightly isolated leading home, the thugs acted and encircled the two.

"Give us all your money and possession, and we will let you live." said the one in charge of this team, bringing a bastard sword, seeming to threaten Mathias and Fayrene.

Mathias didn't expect his encounter with the thugs to happen so fast, as he thought to himself the possibility of the title being the major factor.

'It could be the 'Syndicate Nemesis' who draws those thugs as corpse flies to the dead bodies. However, it could be a coincidence of them seeing Fay and me exiting Nelmon's shop thinking we got money. Hah, let's see if I can resolve things nicely.'

Holding Fayrene's hands and getting her closer to him, he gazed at the leader of the thugs and asked.

"I only have 50 gold on me. Will this suffice, mister?"

When the thugs heard Mathias inquire, they started laughing like monkeys, and along with the leader's disapproval, Mathias gave Fayrene a look while whispering to her.

"I tried to solve it nicely. Don't get scared if you start seeing blood, okay?"

"I will fight too, dear."

"Okay, follow my lead."

As Mathias said that, he extended his right hand that started giving off white-purple light, and with a sarcastic tone, he questioned the thugs.

"You don't want to take my money to save your lives? I even offered a pretty good price, 10 gold for each life. Sad, but not so much. You just make me want to target you rats more and more."

"Little shit, what did you just say? You think you can end us. We even wanted to spare your miserable life and just take your woman to enjoy her slutty body for a bit."

Then with the rest of the thugs drawing their weapons, Mathias could see their names, HP, and level, which were around 19-22 with HP that gauged at 6000 HP. Compared to the thugs he fought long ago, which were Lv.15 with about 2000-3500 HP, those ones were quite strong.

As he was channeling his mana for 'Arcane Missile', he also equipped 'Midnight' and all the rest of his armor pieces, from the trousers and the cloak, also with the staff strapped on his belt, he noticed that the effects were still there.

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Name: Mathias / Class: Beginner

Level 25 (28.899/28.900) / Title: Syndicate Nemesis

Health: 2040/2040 /Mana: 768/768

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"Harsh words being thrown about for someone who is about to see the Gates of Tartarus."

"Arcane Missile."

Saying that from his hand, a missile was propelled straight to one thug's body, sending them flying hitting the walls of a building.

[You have dealt 888 damage to the target.]

Meanwhile, Fayrene also sent her own missile flying toward another of the five thugs, causing a considerable amount of damage that had Mathias question if he saw it well.

[Your party member Fayrene dealt 557 damage to the target.]

Then, not waiting for themselves to be hit by the couple, shouting some curses, they dashed to strike Mathias and Fayrene.

Fayrene, who was next to Mathias, used her own spell to protect herself, calling out in a severe voice. "[Arcane Barrier]"

At the same time, Mathias took out Ragnius and entered a defensive stance, blocking some of the damage he received.

[You have suffered 220 damage.]

[You have suffered 134 damage.]

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[Your party member, Fayrene, suffered 80 damage, with most damage being absorbed by the skill 'Arcane Barrier']

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Fayrene Status Window:

Name: Fayrene / Class: Apprentice Arcanist

Level: 22 / Titles: Arcane Explorer / Mana Blessed / Exquisite Tailoress / Holder of Supreme Core/

Health: 1160/1260 / Mana: 1800/2200

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Strength: 30 / Stamina: 90 / Agility: 50 / Intelligence: 371 / Dexterity: 85

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Seeing this notification, he looked at Fayrene stats and saw that she was still fine, and after handling the first attack phase of the thugs, he dashed toward the one leading the thugs gazing coldly at them as he unleashed his spear skills, attacking rapidly with three spear strikes. (A/N: He could see only her HP and MP, just like in an RPG, that status is just for you readers. Mathias still doesn't know how good Fay is actually)

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"[Piercing Rain]"

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[The first attack has been entirely blocked.]

[You have dealt 267 damage.]

[You have dealt 167 damage.]

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Keeping his attack straight on them, he noticed that Fayrene fired another two missiles, successfully hitting two of the guys dashing toward her, thinking she was easy prey, in so, causing them [487] respectively causing the double damage of the spell, dealing a massive [1046].

Seeing all of these notifications from the system, he was about to smile, proud of Fay's achievements, but this feeling was shattered by the curses of the thugs, who swore at Fayrene and himself.

He was fine being made all sorts of words, but hearing all of the nasty words addressed to Fayrene, touched a chord in his brain.

"Hmph, a bunch of pigs squealing before their end. Instead of cursing us, better focus on keeping your life."

"[Raven's Movement]"

Activating his movement speed buff, he stepped inside the thug leader range, and with an evil grin, he thrusted Ragnius inside of his stomach, causing a critical attack that also caused the 'Bleeding' debuff.

[Critical]

[You have dealt 660 to the target.]

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Then as he checked the amount of health the thug leader was losing under the 'Bleed' debuff, about 2% for 15 seconds, he heard the sound of the sword cutting at him, that hit before he could react, in the same manner, another thug that was targeting him followed suit.

[You have suffered 167 damage.]

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[You have blocked one attack.]

Blocking the latter's attack, he did a quick step back and using the accumulated attack speed he was currently, 7.5% speed in his attack, he did another [Piercing Rain] targeting the one he blocked and unbalanced, causing [187],[283] and [241] having the thug scream in pain and agony, while the other thug tried to counter him back.

The thug leader also didn't dawdle around doing nothing, choosing to assist his men, charging at Mathias with his sword-ready and murderous gaze.

"You will pay for this! You dare to hurt us, Glark Gang? You will regret it forever, in hell!"

To Mathias, those words were nothing but the barks of a rabid dog that tried to communicate with him yet failing miserably. Switching the manner he was holding Ragnius, opting for one hand, he appeared in front of them with his superior movement speed, feinting them so separate them, while his left hand was channelling the [Arcane Missile].

"Enough plays, you bastards. If Boss Clark finds that you incompetent fools can't even beat some little mages, what face will I have when going to the base?"

Then those two guys he faced, along with the thug leader, shifted their approach no longer, buying into Mathias's feints, going straight for his body. Despite their direct approach, Mathias's eyes shined with white-purple light, visibly energized by the mana, he dropped down with Ragnius and fastly unleashed [Sweep Thrust]

"Fuck this bastard held back! Dodge that attacks!" shouted the thug leader, but it was too late because he too was dropped to the ground by the [Sweep], and with an icy smirk on his face, he went and stabbed Ragnius to the guy who suffered his first missile.

[Your 'Sweep' attack has dealt 146 damage followed by a 'Thrust' attack, which caused critical damage to Antelmo, dealing 681 and causing 'Bleed'.]

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Still with his spear in the body of the thug, having him well pinned to the ground, he moved his left hand that was shining with bright white-purple lights and released a powerful pressure down on the wounded thugs.

"I never experimented with what would happen if I unleash an ending attack while my enemy defenceless. Hope is a satisfactory result."

What Mathias just said had the thug leader raise his gaze at him as he was lowered with the left hand right on his mate's head, releasing an invisible pressure aura along with the white-purple light.

"Nooo, don't do it. You will suffer all the gangs of Titan's wrath if you kill him."

"Thanks for the warning, but I have no reason to stop here. I am your Nemesis, the one who ended Black Spades. In the future, I will end all of you and let the simple people of the city life free, unrestrained by your tyranny."

Ending saying that, and with his hand placed in the direction of the thug's head, he called with a frigid voice.

"[Arcane Missile]"

[Critical]

[You have dealt 2309 damage to the target.]

Then the man who had his head blasted screamed in the entire process, but from nowhere, his fragmented head started restructuring, which proved something to Mathias, after looking at the thug HP gauge that was sitting at 1584/5600.

"So you guys also are blessed in a way by Rebecca. Until all your health is removed, you will not die totally, with maybe a small chance of getting killed. So the last try."

With his mana gathered in his right hand, he swamped his grip on Ragnius that had the thug was pinned with his left hand, which still had some white-purple light similar to gunpowder being discharged.

"[Arcane Missile]"

"Arghhhhh!" cried the man who had his head blasted for the second time, and this time he was dead, turning into grey light particles that scattered in the world.

[You have killed the Clark Gang thug, Antelmo, after successfully triggering the instant death for the enemy because of reaching a low percentage of HP.]