Chapter 44


    Seol stared holes into the Shades Grace.


    [[Shades Grace]


    Quality: Treasure


    Required ss: Shadow Summoner


    Rmended Level: 15-25


    Damage: 50


    Durability: 75/75


    Weight: 0.3kg


    A crystal ball made to imitate the ability of Shades, the Shadow ck Spirit. The ability to control shadows was maximized through extensive research but because of it, there were unavoidable side effects.


    Basic Effect: +5 Intelligence, +15 Wisdom, +2 Spirit


    Bonus Effect: Shadow Hand increases by 1 rank. Shadow Space expands by 30%. Your Shadow Summons stats are decreased by 20%.]


    Ah


    Seol couldnt help but sigh.


    There were really good effects but he just couldnt let go of one thing


    - Is this good or nah?


    - Ah hes fucked LOL


    - WhyWhyWhyWhyWhy?


    - Its an item for someone else.


    - For someone else? Its a Shadow Summoner exclusive item though?


    - There isn''t just one kind of Shadow Summoner.


    Like Seols viewers suggested, the direction Seol was heading as a Shadow Summoner waspletely different from the type of Shadow Summoner this item was suited for.


    This weapon is specifically useful for the Shadow Summoners who use many low-rank summons


    A Shadow Summoners Shadow Summon could be split into two main categories.


    The first was the Shadow Summoners like Seol who had a small number of extremely powerful summons.


    For those cases, effects that give an increase or bonus to the summons stats were the most important.


    But this weapon decreases the summons stats


    The other category of Shadow Summoners were those that had an endless amount of low-level, weak summons.


    For those cases, having more Shadow Space was more important than the individual summons stats. Since they were low-level summons anyway, the decrease didnt even affect them too much.


    - Ah ine LMFAO


    - I trusted you ine hahaha I guess hes a bit of a ditz.


    - Can he just take it back? LOL Ask him to give you something else!


    - ine: I prepared this for you because I thought you might need it ^^ (proud)


    The weapon Seol was currently using was this.


    [[Full Moon Staff]


    Quality: Rare


    Rmended Level: 1-8


    Damage: 22


    Durability: 32/32


    Weight: 0.8kg


    A staff that absorbed energy from the holy moon. It is quite heavy.


    Basic Effect: +10 Wisdom


    Bonus Effect: All of your stats increase by 5% at night.]


    The key stat, Wisdom, was not too different from Shades Grace and the bonus effect was usable.


    Thats why Im having a hard time


    Seol thought for a moment then ended up putting the Shades Grace back into his inventory.


    I guess I have no choice. I just have to go there.


    Seol finished organizing his equipment and entered Nobira.


    And because of the issue with Shades Grace, Seol immediately headed to a ce where he could solve his problem.


    You over there! Dont cut in line!


    Ah, Im sorry.


    Hmph!


    It was a ce that didnt have just rough-looking muscr men, it also had refined women and greedy child merchants.


    Theres a lot of stuff thats been released into the market from the recent ruin expedition.


    Did you see <em>that</em>? Im talking about the treasure.


    Oh, that? I saw it the moment they put it up.


    But I wonder why they put that on auction


    I dont know, maybe its because it hasnt found the right owner yet.


    I mean it makes sense. Even if the items rare, who would pay that much money to buy it at that price?


    From what I heard theyre not trying to sell it at that price but trying to trade it for another item.


    Thats crazy What about the auction house fees?


    I mean all you have to pay if it doesnt sell is the registration fee so I guess its none of their worries.


    Ah, thats true. Anyway, its nice to see something like that.


    Nobiras auction house was one of the bigger auction houses in South Pandea.


    Since Nobira was practically the origin of countless treasures, it was quite an enticing ce for wholesalers and middlemen to visit.


    There was also a ce to search for items simr to how the Adventurer Association had amunity function in their building.


    That was how they were able to amodate the sheer number of visitors. If it wasnt for that, Nobiras auction house wouldve ended up an uncontroble mess.


    Seol posted the unnecessary consumables and misceneous items he received from his Adventures on auction.


    Since Seol didnt have the Negotiation talent, it wouldve been hard for him to receive a fair price for the items he posted if he went to an ordinary shop.


    The consumables he put on auction were practically sold the moment he posted them.


    It might have been because the continuous Adventures made consumables a scarce resource for other people.


    However, since that was unrted to Seol, the only thing he did was check the items listed to see if there was anything he could use.


    Summoners cant equip gaiters so I should probably look for pants, weapons, or essories, right?


    Seol had suitable equipment for his other slots but his weapon was low quality, his pants had no bonus effects, and his essory slot was empty.


    Seols fingers quickly scrolled through the list.


    He set the category to the items he wanted and read through everything as he scrolled down. And as he was doing so, his fingers stopped on one item.


    Hm? Whats this?


    There were many items, especially equipment, listed on the auction with unusual effects.


    The majority of them were Special quality items with some Rare quality items, the quality right above Special.


    However, even if they were rare items, oftentimes the effects were duds so they only went for a proper amount if a decent effect was attached to the item as well.


    But the quality of the item that Seols finger stopped on right now was


    A Treasure quality item?


    Furthermore, it was a Treasure quality weapon.


    Equipment for more important slots often went for double or even triple the price of items in different slots.


    Seol checked the items effects.


    [[Gallottas Tongue]


    Quality: Treasure


    Required ss: Shadow Summoner


    Rmended Level: 14-23


    Damage: 42


    Durability: 68/68


    Weight: 0.2kg


    A treasurepleted with the tongue of Gallotta, the pitch-ck snake. The powers of the snake that emits shadows is imbued into this item. However, because Gallottas shadow venom has seeped into this item, there is a danger of the weapon poisoning its user.


    Basic Effect: +22 Wisdom


    Bonus Effect: Your Shadow Summons stats are increased by 15%. The chance Shadow Summon passes on a skill when used is increased by 20%. Every 6 hours, there is a certain chance the user bes poisoned by shadow venom.]


    Gallottas Tongue!


    Gallotta, the pitch-ck snake, was a notorious monster.


    Not only was Gallottas shadow venom dangerous, but its ability to take many hits drove many yers to their deaths.


    Gallotta also wasnt the name of a specific snake but a general term used for the massive ck snakes that would appear from time to time in the ruins near the Great Forest.


    And thats why I didnt aim for it.


    You could find a Gallotta anywhere in the Great Forest but that was also just another way of saying that you might not be able to find it no matter how hard you searched.


    And because of that, it wasnt a monster that was worth taking the time to hunt.


    No, before that Gallottas Tongue actually dropped?


    Gallotta had a low chance of dropping Treasure quality equipment.


    The majority of them had amazing effects but a few of them had critical defects.


    For example, like Gallottas Tongue that Seol was looking at right now.


    Bing poisoned by shadow venom might look like a trivial defect at first but it was in fact a serious danger to the user.


    Shadow venom might not be a lethal poison but the antidote for it isnt known.


    It was a poison that slowly made you lose your senses.


    The antidote wasnt widely known to the world and the ingredients for the antidote were also difficult to acquire near the Great Forest.


    So thats why they registered it on the auction house.


    It was also a possibility that the original owner was poisoned by the shadow venom.


    An item this great could be sold directly to the ck market and even if it was a huge price to pay, any Shadow Summoner would be tempted to buy it.


    However, considering that this item was registered on the auction house and hasnt been sold it could only be for that reason.


    Well thats that, but who could it be?


    Gallotas Tongue was not an easy item to acquire. The person or group who acquired this had to be someone who is widely known for their skill around Nobira.


    The most likely group is probably someone from the ruin hunter faction.


    The others rarely, if ever, enter ruins and even if they did, they wouldnt be able to defeat a Gallotta.


    Therefore, the item most likely came from them.


    I should gather more information. If I could juste into contact with the person who owns the item


    Seol didnt want to meet the owner of Gallottas Tongue for some other special reason.


    Its just too expensive as it is right now.


    Even if Seolbined all of the currency he had on hand right now, it wouldnt evene close to meeting the minimum price set for Gallottas Tongue.


    I guess theres no choice


    Seol waited in line for a while and before eventually getting his turn with one of the auction houses managers.


    Hello, I am Rita, one of the auction houses managers. Are you here to register an item at the auction house?


    Yes.


    Then please ce your item here.


    With a hint of regret, Seol ced the Shades Grace in a spot where other people couldnt see.


    <em>ce.</em>


    The managers face grew stiff the moment she saw the item.


    Th-this is


    Why? Is something wrong?1 to


    No, not at all. Its just quite the item hm What would you like the minimum bid amount to be?


    Seol remembered Gallottas Tongues minimum bid amount and said the same number.


    Please make it 200 tinum coins.


    A-Are you sure youd like to set the price that high when a buyer might not appear?


    Its fine.


    Seol had plenty of time and he wasnt in a rush to change his weapon.


    There was also a chance that the owner of Gallotas Tongue realized his intentions and requested a 1-to-1 trade as well.


    The odds of that are low though.


    Regardless of whichever of the two happens, Seol was happy with it.


    Someone could buy Shades Grace and Seol could use the money from that to buy Gallottas Tongue or the person who owned Gallottas Tongue could request a 1-to-1 trade with the Shades Grace.


    Rita, the manager, then asked another question.


    Would you like us to proceed as a proxy sale?


    Yes, could you please do that?


    Understood. However, we would like to request that you visit the auction house every day considering the item you are selling is something like that.


    Okay.


    Seol sold a few more items then left the auction house.


    And a few momentster, Rita left the auction house through a back door and handed a note to a rough-looking man.


    * * *


    Seol then headed to the Adventurer Association to see if anything had changed in Nobira while he was gone. And as expected, the best way to learn about recent news was themunity.


    [ (NEW) [<WereFucked>s Post]


    [Post Date: Just now]


    [Title: You guys said Nobira would be peaceful now that Borgo was gone.]


    Whoever said that Nobira would be peaceful should go and repent  Nobira is fucking crazy right now


    Is this a new cold war?


    - Seriously, Im worried Ill get stabbed while Im walking down the street


    - That fucking Heka, the Lion of the Ruins? Or whatever his name is, is fucking annoying.


    - Can you say that to Hekas face?


    Heka?


    Seol had also heard quite a few things about Heka while looking into Chao.


    Before Borgo died, Nobiras big-shot ruin hunters were split into five factions.


    And after one of the factions disappeared due to Seol, the other four factions startedpeting more closely with each other.


    Did something happen during that tense time?


    [ (NEW) [<DieHeka>s Post]


    [Post Date: A week ago]


    [Title: How did things be like this? The people who know, know.]


    You all know that Heka sided with Doju and Kibo sided with Shur, right? Everyone knows this much at least, right? Apparently, the two factions thing was going well for a while until something happened to Kibos faction. Heka and Doju noticed that Kibo was getting weak so they started getting aggressive to take over all of Nobira. You all know it too, right? Even though this ce is a gathering of low-lives, theres a lot of money being moved around so whoever ends up taking over everything will be massive.


    - What happened to Kibo and Shurs faction?


    - I know for a fact that its something that happened to Kibos side. Theres nothing wrong with Shurs faction.


    - Kibo sensei our lone wolf


    - Please protect Nobira, Kibo-chan!


    - I think Im going to go crazy Kibos faction is the moderates so theyre nice to transferees but Hekas side uses transferees like fucking meat shields so its obvious whats going to happen if they take over Nobira.


    - I just barely found my footing in Nobira too, sigh Should we leave Nobira now?


    - Would it be better if we go to Kongory? I heard its livable there now with Han Yeo-myeong and the guild alliance there


    - Im just being careful because Im worried I wont be able to find a party after going there


    Seol had a general idea of what was happening after reading this post.


    So the bnce is messed up. I guess theyre all tense now?


    Since Seol wasnt tied down to hunting ruins like the others, it was entirely someone elses worry to him. He was also no longer somebody who had to worry about getting swept up in conflicts like this either.


    Seol kept looking through posts to see if there was any other news.


    Hm?


    And as he was, he found a post rted to him.


    [ (NEW) [


    s Post]


    [Post Date: Just now]


    [Title: Private showed up in Nobira.]


    Posts about Private started to appear on themunity.