Black Hearted Mage

It was sunny at noon.

Rad appeared exhausted and weak. He put his hand to his forehead as he walked into the study, his steps unsteady, even needing to hold onto the wall to maintain his balance. This old man had looked much younger since his promotion to magician, but perhaps due to his return to the Violet Alliance, he seemed to have acquired all the ills of an aristocrat.

"Caesars, the gold rum doesn't taste strong at all and tastes really good. I didn't expect it to have such a strong aftereffect!" Rad complained, rubbing his head and trying to sober himself up.

"Bah, your alcohol tolerance is really pitiful, old man. My grandfather and father, they can each drink more than a bottle of wine every day, and they can still walk normally after drinking, without the need to hold on to the wall." Caesars sneered, with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

When several of Rad's students saw him coming, they all stood up and saluted respectfully. They had great respect for Rad and regarded him as a mentor and role model.

Rad waved to the students, motioning them to sit down, then turned to Caesars and asked, "Caesars, what would you like to eat for lunch today?"

Kaisas smiled and replied, "No need for lunch. I have to go to the Thorn Flower Trading Company this afternoon. I have an important mission to complete, so I can't stay here for long. I'll find time to come see you after I finish my mission!"

"So urgent! Nivea, take Caesar back to Violet City." Rad said to the youngest student, then looked at Caesar.

"Caesars, Nevi is from the Bano family and is my brother's granddaughter. If you need help in Violet City, go to the Bano family. Nevi, Caesars is stronger than me. He is only fifteen years old and he is already a magician!"

Rad had only casually said this, but his students were deeply shocked. They had originally thought that Caesars was just an ordinary magic apprentice, at most a senior apprentice. However, now they realized that they had seriously underestimated Caesars's strength.

Rad's students only attended half a day of magic classes and usually left before noon. However, Little Nivea was different. She would stay at the Bano Manor for lunch every day and receive one-on-one instruction from Rad in the afternoon.

After politely bidding Rad good-bye, Caesars turned and left with the skirt-clad little Nivea. Rad's other students also boarded their carriages, ready to return home. These carriages would be waiting for them at the manor every day.

"Mr. Caesar, are you really a magician?" Sitting in the carriage, little Nivea stared at Caesar curiously, with anticipation glittering in her eyes.

"Of course!" Caesars replied with a smile.

"Then... are you really stronger than Rad?" Little Nivea blinked her big eyes and continued to ask.

"Well... maybe. After all, Rad and I have never really competed with each other. When he left the Northland Tower, I was just an intermediate magic apprentice." Kaisas replied after thinking for a moment.

Rad is little Nivea's elder, so Caesars must give him enough face.

After a journey of more than ten miles, the carriage soon arrived at Violet City and stopped in front of the Thorn Flower Trading Company.

"Mr. Caesars, the Bano family is in the residential area across the street, only a five-minute walk!"

"Got it, I'll visit you when I'm free!

Caesars is now going to meet Phyllis and ask about Rodman's news.

In the small reception room of the Thorn Flower Trading Company, Phyllis, wearing an elf-transformation mask, took out a space ring and several storage rings filled with things.

"Ma'am, have you cleared out the warehouse? With so much weaponry, how long will it take me to sell it all?

These weapons came from spies who died around the crater, or from mercenaries who died on the edge of the endless forest. In short, these weapons and equipment were carried by people with bad intentions.

"For now, that's all we have in the warehouse. However, there are more weapons and equipment to be delivered from the Endless Forest. They ambushed the Saint Laurent Mercenary Group twice. I estimate there are two to three thousand weapons and equipment to be delivered to the Crater."

Kaisas took back the space ring and the storage ring that was stuffed with things, and asked Phyllis, "Replace them all with magic crystals?"

"Well, low-level magic crystals are fine. Mid- to high-level ones are hard to come by, and even if you do buy them, the quantity won't be large!"

"Ma'am, we need to sell these weapons and equipment first. Such a large quantity will easily attract attention. By the way, when will Rodman return?"

Caesar thought of Rodman, a senior mercenary who could be consulted for solutions to any difficult problems.

"Rodman came back once, and now he's going to the volcanic area alone. He found quite a few fire salamanders last time, and this time he's going to count them. If there are more than a hundred, the Thorn Flower Company will hunt them down!"

"Leave me a piece of leather. I'm going to travel to the Icecrown Mountains in the future, and a fire salamander fur robe will keep me warm!"

Phyllis looked at Caesar with some confusion. This guy seemed not to understand the use of fire salamander leather.

"Fire salamander leather isn't warm enough. It needs to be made into a fire magic robe. After drawing the magic patterns, it needs fire crystals to provide the fire element to keep you warm!"

"Huh? I thought I'd be warm if I wore it!"

"I'll leave you a piece of fire salamander leather as a reward. The leather cannot be sold to others, so you have to keep it for yourself. Kaisas, it's time for you to leave. If you stay in the Thorn Flower Trading Company for too long, you will attract the special attention of the Mage Alliance!"

Caesar nodded and walked out of the reception room. His strength was not strong enough. If he had the strength of a great magician, he could completely ignore the Mage Alliance.

After leaving the Thorn Flower Trading Company, Caesars went to the Mercenary Guild in Violet City. Here, he could sell some mercenary equipment, but magician's items were difficult to sell here, as they would easily be targeted by the Mage Alliance.

The Mercenary Guild is only two hundred meters away from the Mage Alliance and about a mile away from the Thorn Flower Trading Company. It is a spacious but not too tall building.

The Mercenary Guild was a stone building. Half of the hall after the main entrance was the mission area, and the other half was the reception area, where weapons and equipment were sold and mercenary qualifications were certified.

Kaisas walked into the bustling hall. The mission area was crowded with mercenaries, all of whom were looking curiously at the new mission that had just been posted.

"Roger, you damn bastard, you can't read, why are you squeezing in front of the taskbar?" A sudden shout came from the crowded crowd.

"Orlando, I was pushed here. As soon as the task bar appeared, I was pushed all the way here by a few bastards. I wanted to go out, but I couldn't squeeze in at all!" The mercenary named Roger responded loudly.

Caesars heard the two people's shouting and couldn't help laughing. He took out the magic viewing mirror from his pocket and looked carefully at the task bar.

The first task at the top of the task bar is very eye-catching. It is a task to hunt down a ground dragon. Only large mercenary groups can take this task.

The Earth Dragon is a powerful Super Magical Beast, possessing tough scales and razor-sharp claws, making it difficult to inflict damage with standard weapons. Furthermore, the Earth Dragon possesses immense strength and speed, making close combat with such a monster a dreadful act. Without weapons specifically designed to combat Super Magical Beasts, such as the Dragon Hunter Crossbow, this mission would be nearly impossible.

The second mission, to steal a ground dragon's eggs, was a suicidal act. Without killing the female ground dragon, this mission was impossible to complete. Ground dragons were powerful and ferocious creatures with a keen sense of smell, making even the most elite stealth fighters afraid to challenge them.

The third quest involves the discovery of a vein of fire crystal, but the surrounding environment is hot enough to roast meat. While the fire crystal is valuable, few people can withstand such high temperatures. Therefore, someone needs to come up with an effective cooling method to solve this problem. The successful solution will receive a reward of up to 100,000 gold coins.

After quickly browsing through a few quests, Caesars couldn't help but feel a touch of disappointment. He had no interest in any of these quests, as most were fraught with danger, practically a near-death experience. He decided to give up searching for suitable quests and instead set up a stall at the entrance of the mercenary guild.

At this time, numerous mercenaries flocked to the Mercenary Guild, busy accepting various missions. They were about to embark on their journey to complete their mercenary missions. Before setting off, they needed to prepare sufficient weapons and equipment. Due to the prohibition of selling magic-related items in Violet City, the scarcity of magicians, and the strict monitoring of the surrounding area by the Mage Alliance, Kaisus could only sell some other types of equipment.

The items in the several storage rings Phyllis had brought with her had been carefully sorted and stored. Leather armor and armor were neatly placed together, and swords, bows, arrows, and other weapons were also properly placed.

Setting up a stall was as natural to Kaisas as eating and drinking; he was already very familiar with it. First, he put on the badge that symbolized his magician status. This not only saved him the stall fee, but also served as a deterrent to those with ill intentions.

Spreading out a worn but thick animal hide, Kaisas methodically arranged various magic steel weapons, leather armor, and armor on it. Then, he took out a soft and comfortable animal hide mat from his space ring and sat comfortably at his stall.

The Violet Alliance faced a vexing problem: the Mage Alliance was incredibly powerful, practically monopolizing all magician-related equipment, magical items, and materials. Even if a magician wanted to sell their old equipment, their only option was to sell it to the Mage Alliance at a fraction of the original price, often around half.

The noise within the mercenary guild gradually died down, and mercenaries began to emerge. When they saw the stalls filled with weapons and armor, many of them stopped in their tracks.

"Wow! There are so many weapons and equipment!" A young mercenary couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw the stall not far away.

"Go ask the price. If it's cheap, buy some. Weapons and armor are consumables. If a weapon is seriously damaged in battle, it must be discarded. Damaged armor must also be replaced promptly!"

An old mercenary led two young mercenaries and walked slowly towards Kaisas's stall. The three of them squatted down and carefully picked up the magic steel weapons to examine them.

The old mercenary was obviously an experienced veteran. He first tapped the magic steel weapon lightly, listening to the crisp sound of the collision to determine whether the weapon had any hidden damage. Then, he carefully checked the straightness and sharpness of the weapon to ensure that each weapon was made of fine quality.

After a careful inspection, he finally asked, "How much are these magic weapons?"

"Weapons, regardless of length or size, are 300 gold coins each. Magic steel arrows are 10 silver coins each. Leather armor is 500 gold coins per set, and magic steel armor is 800. No bargaining!"

After Caesars finished speaking, he took out a piece of animal skin from under the stall and began to write and draw on it. He felt that it was too troublesome for people to ask for the price every time, so it would be better to write the price directly so that it would be clear at a glance.

The items on the stalls were very attractively priced, almost half the original price. The weapons and equipment all looked almost new, and the bundles of brand-new magic steel arrows were a real eye-catcher.

"Roger, Orlando, wait here, I'll go call the captain over!"

The old mercenary ran to the mercenary guild in a hurry. Hearing these two names, Caesars also looked up at the two young mercenaries.

Not long after, the old mercenary came out with more than 20 people, and this group of people quickly surrounded Caesar's stall.

Kaisas stared at several of the mercenaries with sharp eyes and warned loudly: "Your hands holding weapons had better not leave my stall!"

He had already noticed that some people had ulterior motives and were trying to steal his magic steel weapons secretly.

The old mercenary's face darkened, and he turned to the mercenaries and shouted, "You damn bastards, behave yourself and stop embarrassing yourself here! Don't forget there's a photo stone and a surveillance array at the entrance of the mercenary guild! If we're discovered, we'll be in trouble!"

Obviously, this old mercenary knew very well what the consequences would be if he offended a magician in Violet City.

At this time, a middle-aged female mercenary said calmly, "Geralt, you will be in charge of selecting the weapons. Everyone needs a spare weapon. Also, buy another thousand magic steel arrows, five or six sets of leather armor, and five or six sets of armor. I have limited gold coins, so this is all I can buy."

Hearing this, Caesars was very surprised. It turned out that this woman was the captain of this mercenary team.

"I understand, Captain!" The old mercenary named Geralt nodded respectfully.

"You damn guys, get out of here! I need to choose a weapon. The monsters in the Earl's mine have hard armor, so I need the best weapons!"

Geralt pushed the young mercenaries aside and began carefully selecting magic steel weapons. The female mercenary began selecting magic steel arrows. She must be an archer, and she was very picky about her arrows. Fortunately, magic steel arrows were cast in molds, so the quality was basically the same.