Just became an evil god and was summoned by the saint.

Chapter 18 Life is full of pitfalls

The next day, Saturday, was free of classes.

Celia left school early in the morning to go to the Sorcerer's Guild to buy the Heart of the Puppet.

Ross had been curious about this Puppet Heart for a long time. At present, the mental power he could output was not strong enough to penetrate into other people's puppets to observe the intricate parts inside. He just felt that this Puppet Heart was somewhat familiar and probably not something new, but something that had existed for thousands of years.

However, only a small percentage of puppets have this feeling; many puppets do not.

"Lord Ross, are we really going to buy Puppet Hearts from the Sorcerer's Guild? The school and the Holy Court also sell Puppet Hearts, and their quality is definitely better than that of the Sorcerer's Guild."

Before coming, Celia checked the guide on how to buy Puppet Hearts and found that there were many tricks outside. If you wanted to buy a Puppet Heart that you liked, you had to be very careful. Unlike buying it at school or the Holy Court, where they would customize it for you.

"Most of the Puppet Hearts in the Holy Court and the school are of the Holy type. You don't know if there are any backdoors. Besides, you'll need to explain to them where your gold coins came from. It's better to buy them outside. You'll find attributes that are more suitable for you, and it will be easier to explain then."

Puppet Hearts have different attributes, the most common being Holy, Demon, and common elemental attributes (wind, fire, water, earth).

Different Puppet Hearts have a significant impact on the spells cast by the puppet. For example, a Holy Puppet Heart will increase the casting time and power of Holy spells, but it will reduce the power and increase the casting time when casting Demon spells. The extent of the reduction depends on the spell's rank and the quality of the Puppet Heart.

"I read in the guide that there are many people selling Puppet Hearts at the Sorcerer's Guild. They disguise ordinary Puppet Hearts as rare ones and sell them at a higher price. Moreover, many of them are artificial Puppet Hearts, and naturally generated Puppet Hearts are very rare."

"I didn't realize there was a difference between man-made and natural."

This may explain why Ross felt that some puppets' puppet hearts were familiar, while others were not.

Artificial puppet hearts can also be used, but their performance is not as strong as that of natural puppet hearts; for the same quality, they may only have 20%-50% of the performance.

Although the guide to buying Puppet Hearts provides detailed explanations of the differences between artificial and natural Puppet Hearts, this is Celia's first time buying one. Will reading more guides really be useful when the time comes?

If it were Celia alone, she definitely wouldn't go out to buy it.

"We can only rely on the gods."

"Natural or artificial isn't a big problem. You just need to choose the attribute that suits you. Based on your spell learning progress these past few days, I've determined the attribute you're best at. Don't worry."

"What is my element?" Celia asked expectantly. "Is it Holy? Or Spatial? Or Nature, Lightning, Moonlight, or something like that?"

Celia listed several rare attributes, but Ross shook his head: "None of them. You are ice-type, an advanced attribute of water-type, ice attribute."

"Me? Ice attribute?" Celia never imagined that her most compatible element was ice.

Ice element is an advanced attribute of the water element among the common elemental systems, and it is also considered a rare attribute. Celia can accept it, but she just doesn't understand it because she is not ice at all.

“Affinity attribute has nothing to do with personality. And don’t look down on ice type. There is an ice god among the twelve main gods.”

"I didn't look down on it."

The nearest branch of the Sorcerer's Guild is not far from the Holy Magic Academy; it's about a half-hour walk away.

If it weren't for the no-fly zone in the city, it would only take less than ten minutes to get there by flying broom.

Half an hour later, Celia appeared outside the Mage Guild, looking curiously at the building bustling with pedestrians.

The Sorcerer's Guild occupies a large area, divided into many zones. Today, Celia is going to the Sorcerer's Trading Zone, which occupies a large area.

There are many mages who have returned from adventures selling things here. Usually, the mages form teams, accept quests from the mercenary guild, and if they find something that is not part of the quest while completing it, they will bring it to the mage guild to sell.

It's said that they initially sold them at the Mercenary Guild, but everyone quickly discovered that only items helpful for adventures like potions, defensive scrolls, and attack scrolls sold well there; other auxiliary items were hard to sell. However, within the Mage Guild, many non-mercenary mages preferred to buy these items. For example, the Heart of the Puppet would definitely not sell in the Mercenary Guild because everyone had it, unless it was exceptionally rare. But mercenaries, who live on the edge, are all very shrewd, and there's no way to get a premium for it.

The Sorcerer's Guild is different. There are many sorcerers raised in a sheltered environment here, as well as many nobles and wealthy people. Naturally, there are buyers willing to pay a premium.

Upon entering the mage trading area, a cacophony of hawking cries assaulted the senses.

"A pure, natural magic puppet heart, a rare lightning-type magic puppet heart, usable up to rank six! First come, first served!"

"The shock-proof gemstone provides maximum cushioning when falling off a cliff, so you no longer have to worry about falling to your death!"

"A rotary jet aircraft, only the size of a fist, that can spew out cool flames! Come and take a look!"

"..."

Ross glanced at it. "That 'Natural Puppet Heart' is artificial, the model is called 'Natural'. The downside of the shockproof gem is that it can only be used once. You've seen the rotating jet aircraft, it's that student who spirals into the sky."

As Ross commented, Celia, whose mind had been racing, gradually calmed down.

This place is really a rip-off. They may not be lying, but they only talk about the advantages and never mention the disadvantages. Even the advantages are exaggerated, and they only talk about the theoretical upper limit.

There are too many things, and they're too varied to look at them all.

Fortunately, Puppet Hearts was designated as a separate area, where they were sold everywhere.

Ross scanned all the puppet hearts for sale with his mental power and fell silent: "These are all man-made."

"Huh?" Celia was stunned for a moment. "Then I came for nothing today?"

"Hello, ma'am, would you like to buy a Magic Puppet Heart? All of my products are all natural and inexpensive. For example, this Thunder Magic Puppet Heart is only 50 gold coins. This is a friendly price because it seems like this is your first time here. I usually sell it for 100 gold coins."

The vendor hawking his all-natural puppet hearts called out as soon as he saw Celia stop.

Celia glanced at it; the Thunder Puppet Heart was multifaceted like a diamond, oval in shape, with both ends surrounded by a device that connected to the Puppet Heart, leaving an interface for connecting to the puppet.

"Are you sure this is natural? If it's not natural, you'll have to pay me back."

"Of course it's all-natural, 100% all-natural!"

"Really? Why does it say it was made by seventh-tier mage Harros, and the model number is 'all-natural'?"

"Oh? Haha, ma'am, you know it." The stall owner reluctantly took back the Puppet Heart, and then said in a low voice, "However, I do have a Natural Puppet Heart. If you want to buy it, I don't mind selling it to you."

The stall owner did not display the natural puppet hearts; he planned to bring them out when he found a wealthy noble or merchant. Given that the entire sales area consisted of artificial puppet hearts, he was certain he could sell the natural puppet hearts for an extremely high price.

He noticed that Celia had an extraordinary air about her, and seemed to be a student of the Holy Magic Academy. Since she wanted to buy the Heart of Nature's Puppet, she must be a big shot who was not short of money. If he made a profit from this, he would be set for life for the next three years!

"Take it out and see."

The stall owner took a heavy box out of his backpack and slowly opened it.

When the familiar fluctuations from the Heart of the Puppet arrived, Ross's eyes narrowed, filled with surprise and uncertainty.

"This puppet heart... how come it looks so much like a god? Could it really be a god!?"

(End of this chapter)