With a piercing sound of friction, the dilapidated wooden door was pushed open with a long *creak — *.
Agatha excitedly pushed the door wide, and a gust of air—a mix of stale dust, dried herbs, and a certain indescribable scent—rushed toward them, making Helos wrinkle her nose involuntarily.
The light behind the door was several shades dimmer than the gloomy alleyway outside.
The shop’s windows seemed to be covered by thick black cloth, with only a few magic lamps hanging in the corners of the ceiling providing faint illumination, emitting a dull glow.
As soon as Helos stepped through the door, her footsteps jerked to a halt, and she nearly jumped in fright.
Sitting slantwise behind the counter directly facing the door was a scrawny old man. In broad daylight, this shop was set up like a haunted house, yet this old man happened to be wearing a deep blue mage robe that had been washed until it was faded.
His hood was pulled low, obscuring more than half of his face. He leaned lazily in his chair, his feet even propped up on the counter, holding a thick book with a pitch-black cover, reading with great interest.
If not for his exposed fingers, which looked like withered tree branches, occasionally turning a page, Helos would have almost thought he was a dried corpse placed there.
When Helos and the others walked in, the old man didn’t even lift his head. He merely cracked his eyelids open a sliver, glancing at them with his cloudy eyes hidden in the shadows.
“Look around as you please.”
He dropped that emotionless sentence and turned his attention back to the book in his hands, as if the ones who entered weren’t three guests, but a few insignificant flies.
“Bring whatever catches your eye to the counter yourself.”
Agatha’s originally enthusiastic expression stiffened slightly. This cold attitude, which could almost be considered rude, made her feel a bit annoyed.
But she was soon distracted by the many oddities in the shop, so she didn’t bother arguing with the strange old man.
Helos also curiously sized up the interior of the shop.
The space wasn’t too large, but it was packed to the brim, appearing exceptionally crowded and cluttered. Several tall wooden shelves stood against the walls, haphazardly stuffed with all sorts of items.
Some shelves held rows of glass bottles and jars with strange labels, containing liquids of various colors, and even some organs or specimens of unknown creatures that looked particularly creepy under the dim light.
Other shelves were piled with various strangely shaped trinkets and nameless devices.
Gears, springs, and twisted metal pipes were randomly tangled together like a pile of discarded trash, yet they revealed a weird sense of precision in certain details.
Piles of dusty old books and scrolls were also scattered randomly on the floor. In the corner, there were even a few weapons that looked sinister, such as a jagged black sickle and a bone staff topped with the skull of some magical beast.
The entire shop felt like the secret warehouse of a mad collector—chaotic and eerie, yet incredibly captivating—at least to a “tech geek” like Helos.
Eleanor, however, clearly did not share that sentiment.
As soon as she stepped into the shop, her brow furrowed tightly. She subconsciously raised her hand to cover her nose and mouth, a look of clear discomfort on her face.
The smell in the air, a mix of decay and the unknown, made her feel physically nauseous. The specimens soaking in jars and the weapons emitting strange auras pushed her instinctive repulsion as a Saintess to its peak.
‘Where is this place? I should find what I need and leave quickly… these things look far too evil.’
Eleanor was filled with caution and unease. She subconsciously moved closer to Helos and whispered a reminder, “Hel… os, this place makes me feel very uneasy. Could that old man be related to those cultists?”
“Relax, Sister,” Helos said, looking quite excited. She was currently crouching in a corner, curiously studying a complex device made of countless brass gears, similar to the internal structure of a clock.
“I think this place is pretty interesting. Look at this, the design is so delicate!”
Seeing her sister’s enthusiastic appearance and then looking at the “collections” around her that made her skin crawl, Eleanor could only sigh helplessly.
Although she wanted to pull her sister away immediately, she couldn’t jump to conclusions based solely on what she saw.
After all, though these things looked evil, they didn’t emit the kind of corruptive mana that truly belonged to the abyss. Perhaps the shop owner simply had a unique personal taste?
She could only endure her discomfort while secretly clenching her fingers hidden in her sleeves, vigilantly observing her surroundings—especially that unfathomable old man sitting behind the counter.
Gavi remained quietly behind Helos.
She also seemed to have developed a hint of curiosity toward the strange items around her, occasionally stopping to tilt her head and observe a mechanically complex device, the points of light in her eye sockets flickering slightly.
Agatha had already become like an unbridled horse, excitedly weaving between the shelves.
One moment she was picking up a strange bubbling bottle to sniff it carefully, the next she was tapping on a rusty metal part, muttering to herself, completely immersed in her own world.
“Wow! Is this the molt of a deep nest worm? It’s preserved so perfectly!”
“Eh? The interlocking structure of these gears seems a bit different from what we learned in the books?”
“Boss! How much for this extraction of deep sea luminous algae?”
However, no matter how she asked, the old man behind the counter acted as if he were asleep and gave no response. Having been snubbed, Agatha could only curl her lip and continue her exploration.
Helos didn’t wander aimlessly like Agatha. She still had the trigger mechanism for her [Alchemy Bomb] on her mind.
She carefully rummaged through the shelves piled with metal parts and mechanical devices, trying to find materials that met her requirements—the ability to precisely conduct energy to ensure the stability of the detonation signal, high strength to withstand an instantaneous burst of energy, and a compact size for easy installation and concealment.
These requirements were quite demanding, and she hadn’t been able to find a perfectly suitable replacement until now.
Just as she was about to give up hope, her gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous corner on the bottom shelf, where a small, dusty box lay quietly.
It was a small box made of ebony with no markings on it. The interior was lined with a layer of faded red velvet, and upon the velvet lay a small ingot of pitch-black metal, about the size of a thumb.
The material of this metal was extremely peculiar; it was a dark metal she had never seen before. The surface was exceptionally smooth yet reflected no light, as if it could absorb the brightness into itself.
Helos picked it up carefully. It felt cold and heavy in her hand, far exceeding the weight of steel of the same volume.
With her constitution, she could clearly feel that inside this seemingly unremarkable piece of metal lay an extremely stable and powerful conductive property.
After observing it for a long time, Helos’s heart skipped a beat.
‘This is it!’
This kind of strength and energy conductivity was definitely enough to withstand the impact of the mana core’s instantaneous burst! This was simply the most perfect core material needed for the [Alchemy Bomb] trigger!
Although she hadn’t seen this strange metal before, she could go back and slowly research its origin.
She carefully held the small box in her hands as if she were holding a rare treasure, trying her best to make her voice sound calm, though her tone still carried a hint of uncontrollable excitement.
She walked quickly to the counter and placed the box down.
“Boss, may I ask how much this is?”
The old man behind the counter finally reacted.
He slowly put down his book and lifted his cloudy eyes hidden in the shadows of his hood. He first glanced at the small box in Helos’s hands, a hint of indiscernible surprise flashing in his eyes.
Then, he looked up and carefully sized up the petite girl in front of him.
His gaze seemed as if it could pierce through her appearance and look directly into her soul.
Helos felt a bit unnerved by his stare and subconsciously took a half-step back.
‘This guy’s gaze is so sharp… is he trying to rip me off?’
Just when she thought he was going to name an astronomical price, the old man’s gaze suddenly passed over her and looked at Eleanor, who was standing not far behind her with a look of vigilance.
The old man’s gaze lingered on Eleanor for a moment, and an extremely complex light seemed to flash within those cloudy eyes.
Afterward, he withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes again, and leaned lazily back in his lounge chair.
He waved his hand dismissively and dropped a sentence that left everyone dumbfounded.
“That piece of junk… seeing as it’s destined for you, I’ll give it to you for free.”