Chapter 224: 【Lichimia

The doubts filling his heart made Xia Nan frown unconsciously, his gaze carefully sizing up the Weirouer before him.

Although this young mage girl looked travel-worn, as if someone were constantly urging her forward from behind, she had entered the room at the very last second, even for their agreed-upon meeting.

Yet, judging by her fair, delicate face and her palms—which, while bearing some ink stains and burns perhaps from experiments or spellcasting, were overall smooth, tender, and free of calluses—one could tell she likely came from a rather well-off background.

At the very least, she didn't have to toil in the fields under the sun all day; she seemed like a young lady from a noble family.

But that was where the strangeness lay.

Compared to Weirouer's youthful appearance, which was about the same age as his own, and her high probability of a wealthy upbringing,

her actual temperament gave off a strong sense of contrast, possessing a composure and stability ill-suited to her age.

There was not a hint of the frivolity common among the nobles of this world.

From the moment she entered the door, to greeting Xia Nan, to sitting at the table,

her movements were simple and efficient, without a trace of affectation;

the Common tongue she spoke used only standard vocabulary and grammar, and when involving magical terminology, she carried no sense of superiority, even proactively explaining the meanings to Xia Nan.

Overall, while she appeared vaguely tired and busy, she was exceptionally generous and capable.

"Could she be some old geezer pretending to be young?" Xia Nan speculated inwardly. "But where would she have met me? I've only been to Niumu this past year, and I didn't even stay there for many days."

"Mr. Xia Nan?"

Seeming to notice the questioning gaze of the black-haired young man across the table, Weirouer called out softly.

"It's nothing." Instantly snapping back to reality, Xia Nan's expression remained natural as he nodded slightly. "Let's continue."

"Regarding this resonance relic, I naturally already have a corresponding asking price in mind; it took quite a bit of effort for me to get my hands on it."

—Picked it up off the ground while fleeing.

"But since you are so desperate for this staff, I am willing to let it find a good home. Of course, that is on the condition that I can see your sincerity; after all, because of it, the armor I'm currently wearing is still being repaired at the blacksmith's."

—Pointing out the hard-won nature of the resonance relic.

"Not only did I lose a large amount of precious items (a few fire oil bombs), but three of my teammates even lost their lives because of it."

—Hmm... saying it like that doesn't seem to be a problem either.

"You name your price; I believe you know its value."

—Advancing by retreating, letting the other party name a price to probe, while also making it easier for himself to raise the price further.

Long before meeting Weirouer, Xia Nan had already exchanged in-depth opinions with the appraiser "Tang Si" regarding the value and selling price of the resonance relic.

He thus learned that products soaked in such intense emotions were of no particular use to 99.9% of the adventurers in this world.

Even if kept at home as a decorative collectible, one would have to consider whether the lingering intent and emotions on the object's surface would have a negative impact on the mental state of those around it.

Only those spellcasters who had a professional need for it, or who wanted to use it to set up rituals or cast spells, could put a resonance relic to practical use.

Keeping it by his side was purely taking up space.

Selling it at a reasonable price was the best way to handle it.

As for the specific selling price...

Synthesizing the information from Tang Si and what he had learned through various channels,

he naturally dared not covet the upper limit of the bounty amount marked on Weirouer's commission—300 gold.

If he could close the deal at a price of 200 gold by the end of today, he would already be very satisfied.

If the other party bargained quite aggressively, 150 gold would also be acceptable.

100 gold was Xia Nan's bottom line, but since the market demand was too low, if the two of them still couldn't negotiate a mutually satisfactory price before dark,

85 or 70 gold, he would just have to grit his teeth...

"400 gold."

Amber, crystalline eyes reflected the figure of the black-haired youth before her.

Weirouer sat upright in her chair, saying with a serious face.

"How does four hundred gold sound to you, Mr. Xia Nan?"

"Cough, cough..." The girl's exaggerated offer, as if she didn't treat money as money, made Xia Nan's heartstrings jump violently, though his exterior remained calm and ripple-free.

He even put on a show of pondering for a moment, as if considering whether such a price was reasonable.

"Mr. Xia Nan, to be honest, although as a mage with crude arcane attainments, I do have some savings, my consumption has been relatively high recently due to various factors."

"400 gold is already the maximum amount of funds I can produce without affecting my normal arcane studies."

Weirouer's attitude was very sincere, and her offer far exceeded Xia Nan's expectations.

Since she had already said as much, he no longer intended to haggle with the girl before him.

Opening his mouth, just as he was about to agree, he heard the other party add.

"On the basis of these 400 gold coins, if you have any needs in magic or similar areas, I might be able to provide some help."

"Although those mid-to-high-ring spells are still beyond my capabilities, I have a relatively complete memory of first-ring, second-ring, and similar magic."

Oh?

Hearing this, Xia Nan's eyes lit up involuntarily.

400 gold for the resonance relic in his hand was already more than enough, and he had intended to agree anyway.

And now that the other party was willing to proactively provide him with additional compensation, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

One had to know, he hadn't yet cleared the beastification curse from his body.

If he could find another solution from her side, it might directly save him the 500 gold needed to purchase a Remove Curse scroll.

Thinking this, he weighed his words slightly and tentatively asked Weirouer:

"I wonder... do you happen to have mastered a spell like 'Remove Curse'?"

"Remove Curse?" A look of apology couldn't help but appear on the girl's face. "I am truly sorry, Mr. Xia Nan; third-ring spells are indeed already beyond my capabilities."

It seemed this 500 gold couldn't be saved.

Having long been mentally prepared, Xia Nan wasn't particularly disappointed, and he didn't intend to waste any more time, planning to find Moli to exchange for the spell scroll once this transaction was over.

"But... if you don't mind, could you please briefly introduce what type of curse needs to be removed?"

Weirouer leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on Xia Nan in front of her, asking softly.

That cautious look, as if afraid of causing offense, was completely unlike how a high-and-mighty spellcaster should behave.

"Remove Curse, as a third-ring spell, is mainly used because of its comprehensiveness against curse-type effects and its fast casting action that allows for spell counter-measures during combat."

"Outside of combat, without the need to consider casting time, if I could know the type of curse you need to purify, there might be a better solution."

"After all, I mentioned it to you before." A confident smile appeared on Weirouer's fair face. "My memory of the spell list is quite complete."

Beastification syndrome was not some secret, nor did it require any hesitation.

Seeing that there was still hope for his money-saving plan, Xia Nan immediately explained his current predicament to the other party.

"That's great!" A bright smile bloomed on Weirouer's face. "If it's just beastification syndrome, I do indeed have a targeted purification curse."

"It won't take much time to prepare, and I happen to have the spell materials on me."

"If you don't mind, I can cast the spell for you right now."

She was quite thoughtful; after all, the two of them were currently in the Adventurer Association, which usually had magic arrays for supervision, prohibiting adventurers from fighting each other.

That she dared to cast a spell here already indicated that the spell she was about to cast held no hostility toward Xia Nan.

With the situation turning around, and saving him the trouble of wasting more effort, Xia Nan nodded in agreement. "It will be ready in a moment; you just sit there and relax."

Then he saw Weirouer stand up, her palm half-hidden by her sleeve brushing against her waist pouch.

A few tiny purple-green vines and a small piece of shattered bone fragment fell into her palm.

Her slightly moist lips moved silently, and a flash of magical radiance flickered in her crystalline amber eyes.

Hum—

Her deep chestnut ponytail jumped nimbly, her bangs moved without wind, and one could vaguely detect a flash of fluorescent light at the edges of her hair strands—that was a sign of highly condensed magic particles.

In her palm, the vines and bone fragments dissolved into the air like snowflakes, and a pale blue magical shimmer appeared above the table.

Like tiny fireflies, driven by mental intent, they enveloped Xia Nan's location.

【Lichimia's Resistance to Transformation (Low-Ring Adaptation Version)】

Level: Second-ring

School: Protection

Effect: Purifies curses that cause transformation-type characteristics in the body.

Following Weirouer's instructions, Xia Nan sat motionless in the chair, his body relaxing as much as possible.

He could keenly feel the suddenly active magic particles in the room as the other party stood up.

And as those pale blue light spots landed on him, an inexplicably refreshing feeling welled up from his heart.

It was like bathing in a hot spring, that indescribable warmth and comfort.

Only, what was being soaked by the warm spring water at the moment was not his body, but his soul.

Roar—

Like a hallucination, a strange, unwilling, and violent beast roar erupted in his heart.

A phantom of a black bear with thick mane quietly appeared in the air behind Xia Nan, struggling and roaring wildly, yet unable to make a sound.

It was as if some invisible force was pulling it out of Xia Nan's body, and under the illumination of the magical radiance, it faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Finally, it turned into a wisp of tangible pitch-black smoke and vanished into the air.

At the same time, Xia Nan's whole body suddenly relaxed, as if he had shed some invisible burden, and his entire being eased up.

He understood in his heart.

The beastification syndrome curse had been completely cleared.

And he had saved a full 500 gold coins!

"Purification complete, Mr. Xia Nan."

Weirouer sat back down, her expression unchanged, and there was no sweat on her face; casting a spell of this level seemed very easy for her, not even requiring a staff.

Even so, Xia Nan still expressed his gratitude to the other party with a sincere attitude.

"A mere trifle, you are too polite."

The girl replied with a smile.

It wasn't false modesty; unlike the high cost of spell scrolls, for a spellcaster, if they had already mastered this spell, the consumption for casting it was merely a bit of mental energy, which could be recovered with a little meditation.

And this was one of the reasons why many spellcasters were so wealthy.

Compared to a 500-gold magic scroll, even if a mage charged half, 250 gold per time, there were plenty of people willing to pay when faced with a potential curse or other dangerous diseases.

And all the spellcaster needed to pay was a little time and energy.

The transaction process went very smoothly.

Weirouer exchanged four hundred gold coins and one purification ritual for the purple sandalwood staff in Xia Nan's hand.

He had intended to take the opportunity to ask for some information, but Weirouer seemed to be very pressed for time.

After only a brief exchange of pleasantries, she indicated her intention to leave.

"Finally, thank you once again for your willingness to sell the resonance relic to me; this is very important to me."

She even had to thank him?

Knowing full well that the broken staff in his hand was absolutely not worth that much money, he had taken advantage in this transaction.

Xia Nan suddenly felt something was wrong in his heart.

Gold coins and such were fine, but mainly, because of this, even if the other party didn't say it explicitly, he definitely owed Weirouer a favor.

And favor debts, especially for someone with his personality, were the hardest to repay.

While he was pondering, Weirouer, who had stood up from the table, seemed to have sensed his thoughts.

Pausing, she said sincerely:

"Mr. Xia Nan, the price of an item is determined by people. The resonance relic in your hand might not have many interested parties on the market, but for me, it is an important prop related to my arcane learning progress."

"If it weren't for the fact that my gold coins are indeed limited, let alone 400 gold, I would be willing to pay 500 or 800."

"So please don't take it too much to heart. Perhaps we won't even be able to meet again in the future, and I will never use this to demand you do certain things."

"If that really doesn't work..."

As she spoke, Weirouer couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth and winked at Xia Nan.

"How about we just be friends?"

Since things had reached this point, Xia Nan wasn't the type of person who didn't know how to read the room.

Nodding at the other party, he replied with a smile:

"Sure, let's be friends."

"Bang."

The wooden door of the conference room was gently closed.

Draped in a deep brown cloak, her off-white robe swayed gently with her body's movement.

The slender girl's footsteps remained as hurried as when she arrived, walking quickly down the stairs and leaving the Adventurer Association.

Walking on the main street of Hegu Town, she looked just like an ordinary adventurer preparing supplies before a mission, weaving between various grocery stores.

It seemed normal, but as she moved further away from the Adventurer Association, the number of adventurers and even pedestrians on the street gradually decreased.

Not daring to use magic recklessly to check behind her, she used techniques she had learned from following a veteran, confirming that no one was indeed following her.

At an inconspicuous street corner, Weirouer suddenly turned and ducked into a hidden alley nearby.

Her whole body instantly relaxed, and she slumped against the wall.

Her originally relaxed and ordinary face still held remnants of fear, and as she gasped for air, a layer of fine sweat had already seeped out on her pale cheeks.

At this moment, the shadows cast by the cramped brick walls on both sides, enveloping her, were a safety she had never felt before.

"H-how could it be him?"

Sweat dripped from her exquisitely curved chin, staining the robe on her chest.

"Pan Yun Province... Hegu Town... Mist Forest... Xia Nan..."

"Damn it, I should have thought of it sooner!"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 225 =====