Alma POV 9/17
I looked at the woman as I asked her, I wanted to buy her best Mana Cores. She looked at me with a surprised smile, as I could clearly see her pupils turned into $ signs out of the sudden. Knowing I was the richest girl in the entire Kingdom, I would give her a hefty sum of money if she sold me as many things as she could.
"Fufu, I see!" she said.
"I see that you're a woman that knows when there is an opportunity." I said.
"Hm~ Indeed! And I am actually a man, princess-sama… But it makes me happy that I am so beautiful that you thought I was a woman." Said the… man.
"Eh? Ah… I see…"
Now that I see him, he wasn't wearing any dress, just a tight pants and a shirt. I really thought it was a woman for a bit. He really looked like a hot flat-chested mȧturė woman, but I guess Elves can get so pretty they can even deceive you like this… unbelievable.
"My name's Ivonny. But my friends call me Ivy. I am actually an Alchemist, but I have settled down and begun working as a Mana Core Appraiser. My job is simple, I buy mana cores in large stocks, purify them with my alchemy, and then sell them at good and moderate pieces. Most of my clients are rich alchemist that buy these in big batches to produce all sorts of items." Said Ivy.
"I-I see… You didn't had to tell me the story of your life. But anyways, I've come here to buy, so show me the goodies, and the prices as well." I said.
"Very well~"
The effeminate man quickly brought what I asked, bringing forth the "best" mana cores he could possibly find. Dagger was going insane, looking at these mana cores as if he were looking at a massive feast of all you can eat.
Ivy placed ten Mana Cores over the table, as I looked at them with sparkling eyes. The power they emanated was rich and nice, I could clearly tell they would fetch a nice price by themselves. Ivy said she purifies them, what does that means?
"What does it means you purify them?" I asked.
"Mana Cores when directly taken out of a monster are nasty and corrupted by the monster's soul and their hatred and negative emotions, all of this forms a seeping miasma-like substance inside of them that most people don't realize nor know about. This substance makes Mana Cores grow weaker and actually doesn't let them show their full potential. However, that doesn't matter for me, of course, I can easily purify them through my masterful techniques I learned from my Ex-boyfriend- I mean, my teacher, and through that, I can purify this miasma-like substance and bring froth the true quality of Mana Cores! This is often also called Mana Core Forge." Said Ivy.
Ugh, no, let's go back to reality.
"Mana Core Forge…"
"S-So you're a Mana Core Forger? Alchemist that reaches such an advanced level of mastery are very rare…!" said Rose.
"Fufu, indeed~ I am quite the precious ȧsset for this Kingdom, without anyone knowing." Said Ivy with a pleasant and charming feminine smile.
"I see… Maybe I could recruit you then, have you thought about becoming a Royal Alchemist? My personal one, of course." I said.
"Hm?! P-Princess-sama, are you for real?!" he asked.
"Of course! Only if you want to though." I said.
"I… W-Well… I have to think it through. I have retired myself as an Alchemist so I can't really tell if I am up for the task, despite being a professional, I've grown rather rusty… Sigh, but you're so cute I might accept… Give me a few days to think about it, alright?" he asked rather gently.
"Fine… Now let's see…"
I looked into the Mana Cores, the star of this show, as I saw that the power, they leaked was amazing. All the Mana Cores leaked a strong aura of mana power. And each one had a different color too, with their own different elements to them, depending in the monster, they even carry a part of their soul, which shapes their auras around into their original appearances a bit. Or well, that's what I can see through the power of my Spiritual Sight Ability, from the Dagger too.
I can only use passive abilities from Dagger, active ones or any offensive ability won't work, only those that don't require me to infuse Mana into them… Appraisal and Spiritual Sight are passive abilities that improve my vision and let me see things others cannot see. Simply put, that's it.
However, thanks to Dagger, he can infuse some of the mana he acquires from Mana Cores and infuse them into the ability I use instead, so he can help me use these passive abilities by enhancing them, so they have a greater effect.
This is very complicated, and it costs mana which he has to absorb from his batteries, so I cannot abuse it around as much as I would had wanted.
I checked the Mana Cores in front of me, but Ivy ȧssumed I wasn't able to use the Appraisal Spell, so he told me what they were.
"These four Mana Cores are blue-colored and belong to Water-type Monsters. Lesser Kraken, Rock-headed Tuna, Coral Fortress, and Bloodthirsty Sharks, all powerful Rank 2 monsters that live in rivers and large lakes. They're my best Rank 2 Mana Cores." Said Ivy.
"These three yellow-colored Mana Cores are Rank 3, they're the best Rank 3 Mana Cores I have at my disposal. They're from fire-type monsters, Fire Lizard King, Grand Blazing Lion Emperor, and Lava Wyvern…" said Ivy.
"And lastly… this is the bests Rank 4 Mana Cores I got…" he said, pointing at a dark and a golden core.
