First priority: Funds.
I reached into my bag, touching the Deadtree Walker Branch.
“It feels powerful.”
“No wonder that monster hurt me pretty badly.”
A valuable material, no doubt.
But I had no idea what they were actually worth.
Selling them blindly would be a mistake.
"I should check the general market prices first,"
If I walked into a shop without knowledge, I’d risk being cheated.
Any merchant could see I wasn’t a local and take advantage of my ignorance.
I’d learned long ago that people in business were always looking for an easy profit.
No, I needed information.
I stood up and stretched, glancing around.
There were several shops inside the Redglass Magic Society, each catering to different needs some specialized in rare books, others in potions, and a few had artifacts and spell scrolls on display. What I needed was a shop dealing in magical materials.
I started walking, taking in the details as I passed.
A shop to my left had shelves stacked with shimmering stones and glowing crystals probably for enchanting or crafting.
Another had exotic plants, dried herbs, and beast cores floating in glass jars.
Then, I found what I was looking for.
A small wooden sign read
"Tavren's Magical Alchemy and Items."
Through the open door, I spotted piles of materials some wrapped in parchment, others preserved in magic-infused glass cases.
A gray-haired man sat behind the counter, polishing a thin bone staff.
Perfect.
The old man looked up, raising a bushy eyebrow.
"Looking for something, young mage?" he asked, voice gravelly but calm.
"Just browsing," I said casually, glancing at the items. "Trying to get a sense of the market."
He chuckled.
"Smart approach. Never sell something without knowing its value."
I nodded and continued looking around.
On a wooden shelf, I spotted a Deadtree Walker Branch similar to mine, wrapped in red string.
Eighty Grams of Magic Stone.
That was more than I expected.
"That’s a rare find, It is dangerous to collect and find.”
“Alchemists and potion-makers love it. Hard to get, though Dead Forest isn't exactly a friendly place."
I smirked.
"Yeah, I think I know how hard to get it.”
I moved on, checking the prices of other materials.
This gave me a solid baseline.
Now, I just needed to find a buyer willing to match or exceed that price.
I left the shop without purchasing anything, thanking the old man for his time.
I visited two more shops afterward, confirming the prices were consistent.
The highest offer I found was sixty grams of magic stone or sixty gold coins.
But of course, one thing I have learned that mages do not accept gold coins at all.
If anybody wants to exchange their magic stone grams into the gold coins that would be okay but the vice versa was not possible in the Redglass Magic Society.
I returned to the first shop,
"Tavren’s Magical Components," and approached the counter.
The old man smirked.
"Back already? You found what you were looking for?"
I placed the Deadtree Walker Branch on the counter.
"I’ve got this. How much are you willing to pay?"
He examined them carefully, running a hand along the texture.
"Good quality… recently harvested. I can offer you seventy grams of magic stone at the very most for all of them..."
I smiled and nodded.
“That is great deal.”
I said and then completed the deal, the shoopkeeper gave me seven small bottles of of shining dust, each containing ten grams of magic stone.
Truth to be told, compared to silver and gold coins, this was highly unusual currency system for me.
But, I did not really cared about that.
So, everything was great.
After selling the Deadtree Walker Branch for seventy grams of magic stone, I found a quiet corner and sat down on the bench.
It wasn’t an enormous sum, but it was a decent amount.
I leaned back against the wooden bench and closed my eyes for a moment, sorting through my thoughts.
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My battles over the past few weeks played out in my mind like a series of vivid scenes.
First, there were the mages back in Crimson Berry who ambushed me, underestimated me, and ultimately lost because of it.
They were strong, but not invincible.
“What gave me the edge wasn’t just my spells but my ability to think quickly and exploit openings.”
However, I also saw my weaknesses clearly.
My magical energy pool, while larger than before, still drained quickly if I wasn’t careful.
If I had been up against stronger mages, ones with better stamina or more refined control, I wouldn’t have been able to hold out.
“I also need different approaches in a battle, at this point other than just shooting energy bolts and using Spirit Attack, I dont have anything at all.”
Then, there was the Deadtree Walker. That battle exposed another weakness my lack of elemental diversity.
It took sheer improvisation to lace my energy bolt with fire particles, and while it worked, it wasn’t a true fire spell.
If I had a proper fire-based spell, I could’ve dealt with that creature in half the time and with far less effort.
It is more than likely that I would not be harmed while I was fighting it.
That encounter proved that brute force alone wasn’t enough.
What I needed wasn’t just more power but smarter power.
If I was being realistic, both Eval’s forces and Freedom of Amber would likely keep trying to track me down.
Even if they didn’t want to kill me immediately, they would still want to watch me.
That meant I needed ways to obscure myself.
Tracking magic was something I only had a basic understanding of, but if I could learn spells that disrupted magical tracking or misled pursuers, I could move more freely.
I’d also need a way to detect if I was being followed.
I remembered how my gut feeling had warned me before, but relying on instinct wasn’t enough. Some sort of magical detection ability like a passive radar spell or an enchantment that alerted me when I was being watched would be invaluable.
Another thing I lacked was proper long-range offensive magic.
Most of my spells were mid-range, requiring me to be close enough to land a hit but also close enough to be targeted in return.
The energy dart and energy bolt were fast, but they weren’t meant for extreme distances.
If I could learn a spell that allowed me to strike from further away, I could eliminate threats before they even got the chance to reach me.
There was also the issue of overwhelming numbers.
When I fought multiple enemies at once, I had to keep moving, splitting my focus between dodging and attacking.
If I had a spell that covered a wider area something explosive or something that could slow down multiple opponents at once it would give me a massive advantage.
“An area-effect spell maybe, for attacking groups of enemies...”
One of the things that stood out most from my recent fights was how effective Sacril had been. Without him, I wouldn’t have survived against Elenora’s ambush.
I relied on his speed and strength, and that made me think what if I had additional creatures or magical constructs.
A summon wouldn’t just serve as a secondary fighter; it could be a distraction, a shield, or even a scout.
“Yeah, that would be great.” the thought of summons put a smile on my face.
If I could create magical beings that served my command, I wouldn’t always have to fight alone.
It would also give me more flexibility in battle, allowing me to control the flow of combat rather than constantly being on the defensive.
I also wondered about constructs non-living magical entities that could act as guards, traps, or even long-term companions.
If I could learn how to create a basic construct infused with magical energy, I might be able to set up defenses while resting or use them to gather information.
The last major area I needed to focus on was original spell creation.
My ability to infuse fire into an energy bolt showed that I had a good grasp of magic manipulation. But that was just a crude improvisation, not a structured spell.
If I could refine that process and start developing unique spells tailored to my fighting style, it would give me a massive advantage.
Most mages stuck to what they learned from others.
They followed established spellbooks, repeating techniques that had already been tested.
That wasn’t a bad thing those spells were powerful for a reason but I couldn’t rely entirely on existing magic.
If I had something unique, something only I could do, it would be harder for my enemies to predict my movements.
The problem was that creating spells required deep magical knowledge.
I would need to study the nature of magical constructs, elemental energies, and spell formations. That meant getting my hands on rare magical tomes and guidance from experts if possible.
Finalizing My Plan
I opened my eyes and let out a breath. My priorities were clear.
-
Sell the Deadtree Walker Branch – Already done.
-
Learn anti-tracking magic – To avoid being constantly watched.
-
Obtain long-range attack spells – To control fights from a distance.
-
Find summons or construct spells – To expand my fighting capabilities.
-
Research spell creation – To develop magic that suited my unique combat style.
With these in mind, I stood up from the bench and started walking toward the spell vendors in Redglass Magic Society. It was time to invest in my future.
Not much time later, in just one to two hours, I have found a place called “Glassbook.” which sold books and spells as it name suggested.
As I stepped into Glassbook,
The place was simple, but huge almost like a huge rectangle-shaped building turned into a shop, with wooden shelves neatly lined up across the room, each filled with books of different sizes and colors.
I took a few steps forward, glancing at the shelves nearest to me.
Most of the books looked relatively thin, some with worn-out covers and faded ink.
The titles on the spines were basic—Introduction to Magic Circles, The Fundamentals of Spellcasting, Beginner’s Guide to Magic-Energy Flow.
Nothing I didn’t already know.
As I moved deeper inside, I heard a voice from my right.
“Welcome to Glassbook,” a woman’s voice called out.
I turned to see a young woman, probably in her early twenties, standing behind a wooden counter. She had shoulder-length brown hair, tied loosely behind her head, and was wearing a simple yet elegant blue robe.
She continued speaking,
“The more important and pricey books are in the deeper sections. The ones near the entrance are basic knowledge, mostly for beginners.”
I nodded and looked back at the shelves.
That made sense. Most shops arranged their goods in a way that encouraged buyers to walk deeper inside—to be tempted by the more valuable and expensive products.
I walked closer to the counter and asked,
“Are there categories? Specific sections for different types of magic?”
The woman shook her head.
“No categories,” she replied.
“We keep everything together. But the further you go, the higher the prices. Every ten shelves, the price doubles. The first ten shelves on your right and left—those books only cost five grams of magic stone.”
I raised an eyebrow.
That was an interesting way to organize things. It meant if someone was looking for something specific, they’d have to search carefully.
But it also meant that if I wanted advanced knowledge, I’d have to be ready to pay a high price.
I crossed my arms, thinking.
Five grams of magic stone wasn’t much I could buy a few books from the entrance area without much thought but I wasn’t here for beginner knowledge.
I needed information that would actually be useful to me.
“How high do the prices go?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
The woman gave a small smile, as if she had been expecting the question. “The last few shelves contain books that cost over two hundred grams of magic stone each.”
Two hundred grams. That was almost three times what I had earned from selling the Deadtree Walker Branch. I exhaled through my nose, considering my options.
I needed to be smart about this. I had already outlined what I was looking for anti-tracking spells, long-range attack magic, summoning or construct spells, and anything related to developing original magic. The problem was, I didn’t know where in this shop those books would be.
I glanced at the woman behind the counter.
She seemed knowledgeable, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t just tell me where to find the best books.
If she ran this place, then she knew the value of information. She wouldn’t give anything away for free.
I turned my attention back to the shelves.
“I’ll take a look around,” I said.
“Of course,” she replied, giving a small nod before returning to whatever work she was doing behind the counter.
With that, I walked further into the shop, my eyes scanning the spines of the books as I prepared to find something truly useful.