Chapter 50: Reversal
Miguel traced the source of the voice and saw an old man sitting leisurely on the shop’s table counter.
He has a full white hair and wrinkled face. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt, exposing his aged shoulders full of scars.
Miguel walked towards the old man and asked, "Do you have any water-attributed materials here?"
The old man scoffed and looked at Miguel, "What are you a fool? Do you really think something like that exists here in Blazing Expanse? Do you think this is the Northern Basin? This place is the Blazing Expanse fool, you can only find fire attributed materials and treasures here. If you can find any water attributed materials here, then I bet they must cost a fortune."
The old man talked without pause. However, while he was talking, he had actually reached and pulled a cabinet drawer out. He took a metallic box out of it and placed it on the table in front of Miguel.
The old man opened the metallic box, revealing blue-colored crystals in various sizes placed neatly inside of it.
"Five hundred Gold Coins each for the smallest ones. Take it or leave it!" The old man stated with a straight face.
Miguel’s expression did not change a single bit even when the old man was talking a lot. Erika had already warned him about this shop-owner’s foul mouth so he did not take it to heart. He knew he was just setting it up so that he could make a ’reasonable’ sale.
Miguel ignored the old man and stared at the blue crystals. It was encased with a metallic box so one would immediately know that it was something rare and valuable.
Indeed, even Miguel knew that these blue crystals were rare.
They were called Condensed Water Ores. Found in deep water caves, the crystalized form of water energies.
However, although this was rare, this was not what Miguel was looking for. At least, these sizes of Condensed Water Ores were not enough to make the Volcanic Tortoise evolve.
Meanwhile, he also just realized that his money was not enough to buy even the smallest ones.
He only knew of these water resources from the Volcanic Tortoise introduction, and did not know their value in gold coins. Who knew that they were very expensive?
In the end, with a very straight face, Miguel turned around and prepared to return to the inn without hesitation.
"Wait! Stop! Stop!"
"Alright! Since you are my first customer for today, I’ll give you a big discount. How about 400 Gold Coins?" The old man said with a rushed voice.
’Damn it! I thought that he is just a naive boy who doesn’t know anything just like that girl from before,’ he thought as he stared at Miguel intently.
Miguel stopped and turned around to look at the old man deeply. His Innate Skill activated as his previous experiences flashed through his mind. The next instant, Miguel immediately realized what was going on.
It turns out that this old man was trying to scam him.
Miguel scoffed inwardly and smiled sarcastically, "Are you sure these Condensed Water Ores are that cheap?"
He purposely stretched the word ’cheap’, trying to sound like a person who already knew a lie, yet was trying to act dumb to see the lie first hand for his own amusement.
Hearing his sarcastic tone, the old man was obviously taken aback.
’Shit! This brat really knows it,’ he cursed inwardly as he looked at Miguel.
It was true that water-attributed materials and resources were rare in Blazing Expanse. As the Blazing Expanse was a place with a lot of volcanoes, most of the beasts that resided here were all fire-attributed beasts. Summoners who awakened a grimoire and Innate Beast also have a high chance of awakening a fire-attributed beast.
These resources were mostly targeted to grimoire summoners or to blacksmiths in the city. Mercenaries were the ones usually fond of searching for them for some extra money.
However, although it was rare, it doesn’t mean that there weren’t any in Blazing Expanse. After all, Blazing Expanse was not a place without any bodies of water present. Condensed Water Ores for example can be found in any body of water as long as it is deep and dark enough.
He thought that Miguel was just a new mercenary who doesn’t know a thing. However, when Miguel mentioned the ore’s name, it was at that moment that he met someone knowledgeable.
Knowing that his tricks would no longer work, the old man gritted his teeth in annoyance and said, "Alright, alright! Last offer. This is the lowest I could go. 150 Gold Coins each, if you don’t want it, then get lost!"
The old man was obviously irritated. The tone of his voice spoke volume that he was feeling bitter right now.
Miguel merely smiled and stated, "Ok, I don’t need such low-grade Condensed Water Ores anyways."
As he said that, he immediately turned around and prepared to leave. However, just as he had expected, the old man’s aggrieved voice entered his ears.
"Fuck it! 5 for 100 Gold Coins!" He was fuming in anger as he looked at Miguel desperately.
Miguel sensed that the old man was truly at his wits end this time. Five for 100 Gold Coins was obviously a losing deal to him already. However, he still offered something like this to Miguel.
This showed one thing and one thing only.
He was desperate.
Desperate to sell these things.
A sinister smile secretly formed at the corner of Miguel’s face.
Miguel put up an exaggerated sigh, "Are you sure you’re selling these 5 for 100 Gold Coins only? That’s pretty cheap, right? After all, with how long you’ve been hiding them in that box, their value should have increased by now, right?"
"You know what. I won’t cheat on you this time. How about me taking them all for 100 Gold Coins? Sounds about right, right?"
At this point, the old man was already fuming in anger. This kid was truly asking for a mile when he gave him an inch. However, he thought for a bit and finally made a decision.
"Take it!"
Miguel formed a victorious smile as he took the pouch on his waist, counted exactly 100 Gold Coins and handed it to the old man.
The old man grabbed all the Gold Coins and turned his back to Miguel begrudgingly.
Meanwhile, Miguel grabbed the eleven pieces of Condensed Water Ores and put them inside a bag. He left the area with a smile on his face.
’You’re still too young for this boy!’ He thought as he left the shop. He knew that he had definitely made a killing this time.
After his figure disappeared, the old man secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
"Finally. Those ores are finally sold. Although I lost a lot of Gold Coins in the process, it’s still worth it to dispose of this ’investment’. Ten years holding those pieces of rocks, thinking that they were rare and something of great value. Who knew that no one actually wanted such a resource here in Blazing Expanse? Hehe, fortunately I was able to trick that kid into buying it." The old man laughed to himself, celebrating what he thought was his victory.
Water-attributed materials were truly rare in Blazing Expanses, however, being rare doesn’t mean that they were sought after. Here in the Blazing Expanse, fire-attributed materials were more important than anything else.
The main market for these kinds of materials were, after all, the summoners who have fire-attributed beasts, and the blacksmiths of each city who forges weapons and armors with the idea of the items they made becoming immune or resistant to fire.
The old man thought that he had tricked Miguel, however, he did not know that he was actually the one that had been tricked. Eleven pieces of Condensed Water Ores were definitely more than just 100 Gold Coins, no matter how low their grades were.
Well, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Miguel just gave the old man a taste of his own medicine.
Bluff? Who’s bluffing who?
Meanwhile, after leaving the old man’s shop, he did not immediately return to the inn. Instead, he decided to stroll around and get some information about the demon beasts they encountered yesterday.