Chapter 339: Preparation for Purchasing a Shop

The footwork training with blessed spells was basically an enlarged version of the previous training. Except for the faster speed and the need for a period of time to become proficient and adapt, there was nothing new.

But saying it was easy, adaptation also required a lot of hard work.

Just like if a person's strength suddenly doubled, even normal life would often be impossible to carry out, leading to blunders like accidentally crushing a cup while trying to hold it.

Footwork training was the same.

Since it was training for actual combat, Gao De didn't hide anything and simulated actual combat, blessing 【Longstrider】, 【Wolf's Speed】, and 【Jump】 all at once.

His speed and flexibility became several times faster instantly. When he performed footwork again, he even felt like he didn't know how to walk at first.

However, after two days of running-in, Gao De gradually mastered the technique.

After practicing for another two days, he completely ended this stage of training and started pole practice.

The difficulty of pole practice was different again, and the complexity could be said to have increased several times, all to improve the mage's combat ability in complex environments.

After passing the initial adaptation period and falling over and over again, Gao De gradually mastered the technique. His footwork reaction on the metal poles became more and more flexible and skilled, and the time he could persist became longer and longer.

And when the movement on the metal poles became instinct, fighting in any scenario would become easy and comfortable.

Another fifteen days passed like this.

"Up to here, the general courses for combat mages are actually over." The Naxi mage informed Gao De of a piece of news.

"It's over already?" Gao De's first reaction to the news was astonishment.

There were many training fields in the Collingwood Academy, and the training content of each was different. He clearly had so many training contents that he hadn't conducted yet. How could it be over?

Moreover, the combat mage training he had received during this period indeed made him feel that he had benefited a lot, so he was still somewhat unfulfilled when he heard it was ending.

"There are many trainings for combat mages, but there are only three general ones, namely psychological stress resistance training and breathing method teaching, visual reaction training, and body movement training, because these three trainings are basic skills that combat mages of any system must master."

"The rest is customized training based on each mage's own construction and favorite combat system."

"For example, mages who master weapon summoning spells will conduct specialized weapon use training and melee training; mages who focus on long-range spells will conduct additional precision training and mobile casting training; those who are good at transformation spells even need to conduct some hand-to-hand combat training..."

"Every mage will have their own ideas, and the Sea Sentinels do not interfere, so these trainings are chosen and arranged by yourselves."

"In addition, you need to gradually find the most suitable balance point in the combat system you like and the combat system that suits you in constant battles, and then conduct specialized training according to your own needs."

"For example, if you are asked to conduct melee training now, and later when you do more missions, you decide to take the pure long-range mage combat route, wouldn't the time and energy spent on melee training now be useless?"

"That's how it is." Gao De nodded silently. He had just subconsciously substituted the education system of his previous life: choosing a major to study first, and then looking for a job after graduation.

The drawbacks are obvious; many people's final employment direction actually doesn't match the major they studied hard for many years at all.

Employment can be like this, but mage training is not suitable for this.

Undoubtedly, this method of the Sea Sentinels is more reasonable.

"You are very hardworking, but you don't need to worry. You haven't joined the Sea Sentinels for two months yet. You should prepare for the initial training assessment first." The Naxi mage reminded.

"Naxi mage, is the initial training assessment difficult?" Gao De asked.

"Simpler than the selection re-examination," the Naxi mage seemed to be in a good mood today, with a smile on his face, "The form is similar to the re-examination. After I report your application for the assessment, the higher-ups will choose a First-Class Apprentice Mage from the Sea Sentinels to conduct actual combat with you."

"There will be examiners who will give you a score based on your performance in actual combat. You just need to perform a little better."

"The combat power of our First-Class Apprentice Mages in the Sea Sentinels is far inferior to Paul." He said.

Gao De nodded in deep agreement.

Paul was the most powerful first-circle creature he had ever seen so far. At least for now, in the sea area, if he faced Paul, he would have no chance of winning.

Coming out of the Collingwood Academy, Gao De thought for a while, first went to a nearby shop and spent 4 Jin Quehua coins to buy two boxes of zero-circle rainbow mackerel with weak magic.

Afterwards, he hailed a carriage and headed towards Bi Bo Ting outside Ducheng.

The capybara "Tuanzi" adopted by Gao De was fostered in Bi Bo Ting.

Although the breeder in Bi Bo Ting was very professional, he would still take time to see "Tuanzi" every few days.

One is to cultivate feelings and deepen the connection with "Tuanzi," and the other is to bring some "nutrients" to Tuanzi to help it grow and evolve.

Rainbow mackerel is recommended to him by the breeder in Bi Bo Ting. It can be bought in large quantities in the city and the price is quite affordable, which is beneficial to the growth of capybaras.

In the crevices of the pond stones on the shore, there are clusters of water plants.

These water plants are green, with slender leaves hanging down naturally, the leaf tips slightly curled and intertwined with each other.

The sunlight refracts into broken gold through the water surface, and in the light spots wandering between the grass leaves, small bubbles are slowly rising along the stems.

This is the forage specially planted by the breeding staff in Bi Bo Ting, called Timothy grass.

Timothy grass is rich in fiber, which can help capybaras maintain good digestive function and prevent the occurrence of intestinal diseases. It is an important part of the capybara's diet.

At this moment, in the water grass cluster, small eddies are rolling the grass leaves swaying, the water surface suddenly ripples, and a round and pointed head breaks out of the water.

The head approaches a plant of Timothy grass, gently bites a handful of grass leaves with its teeth, and as the head rises slightly, a string of pearl-like water curtains is brought up when the grass stem is pulled out of the water.

It chews carefully with its cheeks bulging, the whole head shaking gently with the chewing action, and occasionally making a creaking sound.

Suddenly, its small black bean-like eyes rolled around, as if it had discovered something, and its moist nose turned towards the shore.

On the shore, Gao De appeared carrying two boxes of rainbow mackerel, the silver-blue fish tails looming in the gaps of the boxes.

His voice of praise came without hesitation: "Not bad, very obedient, you have to eat more vegetables to grow fast."

That round and pointed head was Tuanzi.

Hearing Gao De's praise, Tuanzi was overjoyed and had already rushed to the shore like an arrow off the string.

It poked half of its body out of the water, its front claws clinging to the mossy rocks, its hind limbs splashing happy water in the water, then it arched its body, and its two fish fins waved up and down like two small hands, extremely excited.

Gao De smiled and squatted down, placing his palm on Tuanzi's head and rubbing it gently, while casting 【Animal Link+】 to communicate with the other party.

Full of desire for credit and emotion for rewards came.

The breeding staff in Bi Bo Ting told Gao De that Tuanzi was a bit picky and didn't like to eat "vegetables."

Gao De heard this, how could this work?

Immediately, he communicated with Tuanzi, requiring Tuanzi to eat enough Timothy grass every day.

However, Gao De has always advocated encouragement and guidance education, so in the communication process, he did not force Tuanzi to eat grass, but adopted a reward mechanism.

As long as Tuanzi's daily grass intake met the standard, he would bring "nutrients" to Tuanzi.

The two sides hit it off immediately.

Gao De used Mage Hand to open the box and grabbed two rainbow mackerel to feed Tuanzi.

Tuanzi excitedly bit the fish gills, held the fish tail with its front fish fins, and its incisors precisely removed the fine thorns like a scalpel, making a gurgling sound while eating.

At the same time, it looked at the two boxes of rainbow mackerel and was still a little confused.

In the past, there was only one box. Why did it double today?

"I brought you an extra box today, because in a few days, after I pass the training assessment, you will have to prepare to go out on missions with me." Gao De gave the answer.

Once Tuanzi heard Gao De say this, it arched its body again, and with its fish fins, it struggled to pat its "chest," indicating that there was absolutely no problem.

At this age, it is the most active and energetic time. It had long disliked Bi Bo Ting for being too small and boring, and treated going on missions as "going out to play."

Gao De smiled and fed all two boxes of rainbow mackerel to Tuanzi.

Don't look at Tuanzi's small size, but its appetite is amazing. Two boxes of rainbow mackerel entered its stomach, and there was no sign of being full at all.

Returning from Bi Bo Ting to Ducheng, Gao De actually had one more thing to do.

He needed to purchase a shop in Ducheng.

One is to acquire the tree seeds he needs.

This is the top priority, concerning his cultivation progress and the growth of Yujia Te Xila.

In addition, he is prepared to use the shop as his own territory and warehouse to store the materials he plans to bring from the northern realm later.

If he can manage the shop, that would be even better, so he doesn't have to bear the pain of selling supernatural materials to those merchants at half price.

During the previous period, he was immersed in training, and he wouldn't return to the northern realm in the short term, so Gao De didn't rush this matter.

Now that the training is over, the matter of purchasing a shop naturally needs to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

It's just that wanting to purchase a good shop in Ducheng is not a simple matter. The difficulty is not the high price, but the whole process is very troublesome.

First is the first stage, finding a suitable shop.

This world is not like Gao De's previous life, filled with a large amount of information.

Here, truly high-quality shops are basically not publicly listed.

Therefore, as an outsider, Gao De was stuck at the first step.

After thinking about it, Gao De still went to seek help from Mei Liya, his only acquaintance in the Sea Sentinels.

"You are preparing to purchase a shop in Ducheng?" Hearing Gao De's intention, Mei Liya's first reaction was unbelievable.

This is like a poor relative from the countryside who came to the city to work in her eyes, suddenly coming to consult you for buying a house suggestion. Anyone would have this reaction.

However, Mei Liya has high emotional intelligence. After instinctively blurting out, she immediately realized that this question was very impolite, and immediately skipped this sentence and gave her answer:

"If you want to get this shop information, it is actually very difficult if you are not a local or a noble, but it is not completely impossible."

"In addition to field reconnaissance, there are two more practical methods."

"First, you can pay membership fees to join the 【Ducheng Grocery Merchants Alliance】 and obtain some internal quotes for shops about to be resold through the guild's intelligence network as quickly as possible."

"In addition, information will also be hidden in the hands of some brokers who make a living by this. You should be able to find these brokers if you look in the tavern."

"The former method is more official, that is, you can get housing information from it. Although it is not bad, it will not be the best batch."

"The latter method is more private, easy to be deceived, and the price paid will be relatively higher. The advantage is that there is a probability of obtaining information about those truly high-quality shops."

"See which one you choose."

Mei Liya only objectively introduced the two methods and did not make a subjective recommendation to influence Gao De's judgment.

"Well... although I haven't bought a shop, I still want to remind you that there are many potential risks in purchasing a shop. You'd better be careful to identify and judge, otherwise, it is very likely to fall into a pit."

"How to say?" Gao De frowned and asked curiously.

"Potential property rights disputes, fraud, and other problems are the most common pits, and there are some invisible pits."

"For example, a shop transaction scandal once occurred in the White Church District. The buyer bought a shop in the White Church District without checking the drainage ditch. After taking over, he found that the sewers of the whole street led directly to the shop's cellar. Finally, because of the plague outbreak, he lost everything."

"Although there are not many similar examples, there are not a few."

"..."

"Thanks for the reminder, I understand." Gao De said seriously.

Finally, among the two methods recommended by Mei Liya, Gao De chose the former.

The latter method is more suitable for locals who are familiar with local cultural characteristics.

As an outsider, he rashly deals with those cunning brokers, and it is easy to be cheated.

And using the official method, his identity as a Sea Hai Shao Bing mage can more or less play some role.

After comprehensive consideration, Gao De took a carriage directly to the 【Ducheng Grocery Merchants Alliance】 located in the city center.

After reporting his identity as a Sea Hai Shao Bing mage and paying a membership fee of 5 Jin Quehua coins, he successfully joined without any setbacks and obtained a detailed list of internal shop quotes.

In this shop list, Gao De first screened a round based on price: his psychological expectation is between 300 Jin Quehua coins and 800 Jin Quehua coins.

The shops in this range are basically located in "middle-class communities," are ordinary brick and stone structure shops, and are generally equipped with brass doorbells, carved shelves, and even a basement that can be used as a warehouse.

If Gao De wants to develop in the direction of a magic material shop, he should actually choose a shop in the "noble district" or "mage district."

But it's not that he doesn't want to, it's that the shops there are too expensive.

Shops in these areas start at 1500 Jin Quehua coins, with no upper limit.

This is simply not something Gao De should consider.

Ducheng is really too big.

So even if the price range is limited so small, there are still eleven shops that intend to be resold recently for him to choose from.

After the preliminary screening, to determine the final choice, there are actually many things Gao De needs to do.

Just as Mei Liya reminded, there are many potential risks in shop transactions, so before entering the transaction rhythm, he needs to step on the spot in advance.

This work requires a lot of time and energy, and Gao De is not prepared to waste his time on this.

He chose to solve the problem with money.

Listing eleven shops on the list, he went to the White Church District again, spent money to hire eleven "errand boys."

The so-called "errand boys" are actually children from poor families who look for temporary work on the street to subsidize their families, such as running errands, cleaning, moving, etc.

The cost of hiring them is extremely low, only 50 copper or 1 silver dragon coin at a time.

Gao De hired them for a week at a flat price of 7 silver.

The things they have to do are also very simple, that is, in the next week, each of them will watch the shop assigned to them by Gao De, mainly three things:

Recording the number of smoke emissions of the shop, checking the shop's sewer at night, and measuring the passenger flow.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 340 =====