Chapter 172: Items On Sides

Amon and Seraphina left the Royal University through one of the side entrances.

Soon they found themselves back on the busy streets of Meeren.

They had already booked a cab, and after nearly half an hour of traveling, the elegant buildings of the upper districts gradually disappeared behind them.

The streets became narrower, the shops became smaller, and the number of ordinary people increased.

Amon sat beside Seraphina during the ride, occasionally looking through the window at the countless shops and stalls filling the streets.

Once they finally reached their destination, the cab stopped near a busy intersection.

Amon paid the driver before stepping outside.

He immediately grabbed Seraphina’s hand and began walking through the crowded street.

Seraphina looked around curiously before turning toward him. "So, what are we going to do?"

Amon shrugged. "Not too much. I just thought we should look for something good."

Seraphina blinked. "Something good?"

"Something interesting, something useful, or something that looks like it might be worth buying."

Amon smiled. "We’re here anyway, so we might as well look around."

Seraphina nodded. "Alright."

They walked through the busy streets together, passing food stalls, clothing shops, weapon stores, restaurants, and countless small merchants.

After several minutes, Amon noticed a narrow street branching away from the main road.

Unlike the polished shops of the upper districts, this area looked much rougher.

Several wooden stalls had been placed directly along the street, while merchants sat behind tables covered with old weapons, and other miscellaneous objects.

Amon’s eyes immediately lit up. "Let’s go there."

Seraphina followed his gaze. "That place?"

"Yeah."

Amon pulled her gently toward the street.

The moment they entered the market, his Merchant’s Divine Insight activated.

His vision changed almost instantly. Every object around him seemed to carry a faint layer of information.

Most of them were disappointing.

’Cheap.’

’Fake.’

’Worthless.’

’Overpriced.’

Amon walked past several stalls without stopping.

Most of the merchants were selling ordinary objects that had little value beyond their appearance.

Some were trying to pass ordinary stones off as magical materials, while others were selling damaged artifacts without even knowing what they were.

Amon wasn’t particularly surprised. A street market like this was bound to contain more trash than treasure.

Still, there were occasional items that caught his attention. ’Not bad.’

He slowed down beside one stall before looking at an old dagger.

It had decent craftsmanship, but its actual value was still far below the merchant’s asking price.

Amon moved on. Seraphina was doing the same.

Unlike Amon, she couldn’t see the hidden value of the objects around them, so she simply examined anything that caught her eye.

After walking for a while, her gaze suddenly stopped.

She pointed toward a small bracelet lying among several inexpensive accessories.

"Amon."

"Hm?"

"Should I buy this?" Amon looked at the bracelet.

It was simple and made from polished silver, with a small blue stone embedded in its center.

He activated his Divine Merchant’s Insight.

The information appeared immediately.

-----

[Silver Coated Bracelet]

[Grade: Common]

[Actual Value: 30 Bronze Coin]

-----

Amon glanced at the merchant’s asking price and there was nothing special about it.

Still, Seraphina seemed to like it.

Before she could reach for her purse, Amon placed the money on the counter.

"I’ll take it."

Seraphina looked at him. "Amon."

"What?"

"I was going to buy it."

"I know."

He picked up the bracelet and gently took her hand.

Seraphina watched as he carefully placed the bracelet around her wrist and fastened it.

"There." Amon looked at her wrist for a moment. "It looks good on your hand."

Seraphina stared at the bracelet before raising her arm slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah."

A small smile appeared on her face.

She turned her wrist from side to side, letting the sunlight reflect off the silver surface.

"I like it."

Amon smiled. "Then it’s worth it."

Seraphina looked at him with a faint pout. "You always buy things for me."

"That’s because you keep finding things I want to buy."

"That’s not how it works."

Amon chuckled. "Too late."

They continued deeper into the market.

The farther they went, the more unusual the items became.

Some merchants were selling old monster materials, while others had piles of books written in languages Amon couldn’t recognize.

Amon continued scanning everything and he stopped.

His eyes landed on a small metallic object sitting inside a wooden box.

The system window appeared above it.

----

[Flamebinder Chain]

[Grade: Diamond]

[Price: 10,000 Gold Coins]

[Description: A magical artifact capable of converting the user’s mana into chains of fire.]

[Skill: Flame Chain]

[Effect: Creates chains of condensed fire from the user’s mana. The chains can restrain targets and inflict continuous fire damage.]

-----

Amon’s eyebrows rose slightly. ’That’s a nice thing.’

He picked up the artifact and examined it from different angles. The design was simple, but the mana flowing through it was stable.

Amon immediately thought about Sidney. ’She most probably has fire affinity.’

Gordon, Sidney’s father had possessed the same elemental affinity.

Amon looked at the chain again. ’This would probably suit her.’

He glanced toward Seraphina.

She was several meters away, examining a collection of magical accessories displayed by another merchant.

Amon smiled slightly. ’I’ll give this to Sidney.’

He paid the merchant and quietly stored the Flamebinder Chain away.

As he walked away from the stall, a thought crossed his mind. ’I’m curious what I’ll get from the Return System after gifting this to her.’

The system had always rewarded genuine investments in his registered wives, but Sidney wasn’t one of them.

At least, not properly. ’I need to ask her to be my wife before gifting it.’

He continued walking through the market.

Seraphina was still busy examining things, occasionally picking up an accessory before putting it back down when she found the price unreasonable.

Amon smiled when he saw her bargaining with one merchant.

She was surprisingly serious about saving a few hundred Federal Notes. ’So she can be like this too.’

He continued scanning the stalls until his eyes suddenly stopped.

At the edge of one stall, partially hidden behind several ordinary wooden staffs, was an old black staff.

It looked completely unremarkable at first glance.

Its surface was covered with scratches, and the metal near the bottom had lost most of its shine.

But Amon’s Divine Merchant’s Insight told him something completely different.

-----

[Ancient Spellcaster’s Staff]

[Grade: Platinum]

[Actual Value: 2,800,000 Gold Coins]

[Description: A staff specially created for the casting of high-grade spells. Its structure allows the wielder to channel large quantities of mana through complex magical formations without destabilizing the spell.]

[Condition: Broken]

[Repair Requirement: Requires a high-grade Mana Core and Different items]

Amon’s eyes widened slightly. ’Platinum grade?’

He picked up the staff and rotated it slowly in his hand.

The merchant barely looked at him. "That old thing?"

Amon nodded. "How much?"

The shop owner thought for a moment. "Five thousand Federal Notes."

Amon looked at the staff again and said. "Deal."

The merchant seemed slightly surprised that Amon hadn’t tried to bargain. "You’re not going to negotiate?"

"No." Amon took out the money and handed it over.

The merchant counted it before nodding.

"It’s yours."

Amon smiled. "Thanks."

He quickly placed the staff into his storage before Seraphina could notice.

The entire transaction had taken less than a minute.

Amon looked toward Seraphina. She was still distracted by a display of magical accessories.

A small smile appeared on his face. ’I’ll repair this later and give it to her.’

The thought made him feel strangely satisfied.

He walked toward Seraphina while continuing to scan the surrounding stalls.

However, when he reached her, he noticed that she wasn’t looking at the accessories anymore.

She was staring at something on the merchant’s table.

Amon slowed down as he looked at Seraphina. ’What is so special about that thing that it managed to catch her attention?’

He moved closer and followed her gaze as his eyes activated automatically.

The moment Merchant’s Divine Insight analyzed it, his entire expression went blank.

The information appearing before him was completely different from anything he had expected.

Amon simply stared at the system window. ’...What the hell?’