Hecate reappeared at her workshop.

The bed frame matter ended sooner than expected. Perhaps because the one ordering the goods was a VVIP, the Mercury Corp decided to prioritize and send their courier in less than 10 minutes.

At first she thought the courier would come while she was in the middle of the party, so she had instructed the house AI to notify her when someone wearing a Mercury uniform was standing at the gate. But that quickly proved unnecessary. The courier arrived before she finished inputting the instructions.

So, here she was.

"There still a lot of time before Rena's class is over... What to do...?"

Still about two hours before the designated time, until that, Hecate was free. Then, she remembered she still had some items that require appraisal, as well as three unopened Mysterious Boxes, still buried inside her storage.

"Well, since there is still time, I suppose it wouldn't be hurt to clear those items away."

Hecate quickly went to the City Square where the Save Crystal was placed. The crystal was particularly noticeable since there are a lot of particle light surrounding it. The particle sometimes gathered in one place forming a humanoid body.

Then from that light, Players who died in the field, respawned.

As for the people who teleported to the city using the Town Scroll or by other means, they would appear from within the Teleportation Gate, which was also near from the crystal.

Touching the crystal, Hecate accessed her storage and put the items to her Inventory, closed it and then walked to the east direction. Her destination was a spacious place surrounded by iron fences, with exquisite entrance tower gate in its front.

"I have arrived."

Without further ado, Hecate showed her Magician Badge, the proof that she became a Mage 2 years ago to the guards. Then, she entered the gate and walked to the biggest building.

The place Hecate visited this time was the headquarters of the Rosenweil Mage Association.

This was the place where every Spellcaster classes people, either Players or Natives from Rosenweil Kingdom had their class change. It was also the place where Hecate changed her Jobclass from a Novice until she became an Archwitch.

Many Spellcaster Jobclasses, or people with Magical-related Production Subclasses often seen hanging around this place. They are here because this place is also where various magical supplies are traded.

• • Some spells require a catalyst to use them, like Pearl, Ruby, or other Gemstones.
  • Artificers need special pens and special inks to engrave Glyphs into their craft.
  • Runemasters also require fully functional Rune Crests to enchant them into the equip.

Other than that, there are also Charms, Scrolls, and many other Magical-related stuff could be found in this place.

♦♦♦

 

With a confident step, Hecate walked up to one of the receptionist in charge. It was a woman Native in her 20-ish.

"Hello, what can I do for you, Miss?"

"I want to open these boxes."

So Hecate said as she handed over the 3 Mysterious Boxes.

"Please wait for a moment. Hmm, where is it... The box opener... Ah, here it is!
Three boxes, the total fee would be 3."

"Okay, this is the payment."

As the receptionist took out something like a plate to the table, Hecate gives the coins.

Quickly, the receptionist put the box one by one above the plate. Both of the plate and the box started to glow with colorful light and let out a chiming sound as the container slowly opened.

The light emanated from the box was beautiful, like a firework that launched to the sky at a festival. It was just the act of opening a Box, but it seems the developer likes to add an extra touch.

Hecate could only impressed by the flashy animation.

"Ooh... No matter how many times I looked at it, this is still an impressive sight."

The process took some time to finish, but eventually the three boxes successfully opened.

She looked at the contents that has been taken out from inside the boxes...

♠♠♠

 

---

The first item, a yellow colored crystal with a size of a fingernail.

An Exp Shard!

To increase their levels, there are several ways that can be done for Players.

1. 1. The first method, the most common and the simplest way is to kill monsters.
      The more monsters you kill, the more EXP you get. A simple, very straight to the point. But unfortunately, not everyone can do that. Only people with high sense of combat can really triumph by using this method.
      Although there are system assist to help Players, but eventually it was their reaction time that played a vital role.
      As for Players with handicapped reaction time, the most they can do is just snuffing some low level monsters.
         
   2. The second method is to do quests issued by the Natives or system generated quests.
      Another common method, by doing quests and get its Exp reward. But in case the former, the Natives who issued the quests had to pay the Exp reward with their reward quota given by the Goddess Norn. The quota can't be used directly, but can be given to the Players as a quest reward.
      Perhaps, the goddess distributed this quota in order to make Players and Natives get along well.
         
   3. The third method is to work on their Subclasses activity.
      Lifestyle Players can get their Exp by doing their stuff. Blacksmiths like Hecate will gain experience every time she make something. A Chef like Rena-cchi will get Exp every time she cooks a dish. And many more...
      The amount of Exp earned did not as many as the first and the second method, but a mosquito meat is still a meat.
      Little by little, those small Exp accumulates and eventually reached the Exp required to level up.
      Players who are unable to fight monsters preferred to do this kind of chore to earn their Exp.
         
   4. And the last method, is to gather Exp Shards or Exp Crystals.
      In the rare event, Exp Shards and Exp Crystals sometimes formed on the field at an inconspicuous place. People who obtained this shards or crystal can just crush it to receive a lump of Exp Points.
      Exp Crystal is bigger than Exp Shard, and grants more Exp. The Crystals can give at least 750,000 EXP while Shards give around 10,000 to 50,000 EXP.
      There was no need to kill monsters, do quests or do a chore. They will receive Exp in that instant.

It was not often people can find an Exp Shard, much less an Exp Crystal. These items was one of the item people can get, but cannot be sought. To obtain them requires a lot of luck.

For this reason, these items are considered a treasure by both the Natives and the Players.

Though, for Hecate who needs 16 million Exp left to advance to her next level, 15.000 Exp is just too small to care about.

'I'll store this for the time being...'

She placed the shards to her inventory, and then looked at the second item.

---

♠♠♠♠♠

---

The second item was a black dagger.

A super alloy dagger with 9-star rarity!

Such a rarity of weapon usually belonged to high-end tier with only one in kind. That means this dagger is the only one and no other copy in existence in the game. It's a shame because of class restrictions, Hecate can't use this dagger. 

However, if this dagger is auctioned, it will definitely get millions of gold coins.

Moreover, it was a +8 upgrade which was extremely difficult to get. This is because when an upgrade fails, the consequent item along with the materials used will be destroyed completely. The higher the level, the higher the chance for the Blacksmith to fail to upgrade the item.

By estimation, this dagger can fetch about  30 million in the market.

'Nah, I'm not short of gold coins right now. Let's just store it for future use.'

Hecate shakes her head and put the dagger to the inventory. It was too valuable to exchange it for mere gold coins. A dagger that can destroy metals, truly a heaven defying item.

Although Hecate can't use it, but Ruri can!

---

♠♠♠♠♠

---

The third item.

A completely do and die item!

Due to the nature, it was supposedly considered a banned item among the Natives. This can be seen from the excessive reaction of the receptionist when this item is unboxed. The receptionist, who screamed after seeing the item, immediately backed off in fear of activating the badge. She treated the badge like it emitted dangerous radioactive.

It was understandable, since when someone used this item, that person will face his or her imminent death in the next hour. Well, that is... if the person is a Native.

For a Player who in-game death meant being unable to log in for 24 hours, this item truly is a treasure of the treasure. Especially Hecate, who currently have 221 base INT stats. This is without calculating the INT gained from her equip stat. Double the stat means, her INT will reach at least 442 points.

And the 24 hours penalty can be waived off by using Life Insurance Scroll before the duration ends.

If by some chance, she fired off a Mana Explosion in that moment and using her entire MP in the process...

'Kukukuku... This is a good stuff!'

Ignoring the terrified receptionist, Hecate let out a malicious grin. The receptionist who saw that smile, couldn't help but tremble once again.

'Hiiiii.... What is this girl? That's not a smile a little girl would have!'

Hecate immediately stuffed the badge to her inventory.

---

♠♠♠

 

Now that the 3 Boxes had been unboxed, the one thing left before she leave was to appraise some items. She spoke once again to the receptionist.

"I want to appraise my items."

"Eh... ah, uh... the Appraiser is right there..."

The receptionist, who still trembled after seeing a seemingly terrifying stuff, pointed at the direction of another table. There are a few people, mostly Players who queued in that table.

By the way, there are also an Appraiser in the Adventurer's Guild and everyone could use their service with a few silver coins. But for a Spellcaster, the fee was cheaper if they use the appraisal service in the Mage Association.

Without further ado, Hecate went to the direction that the receptionist pointed to.

'By the way, why is the receptionist scared? Do I look ugly? I think I have a pretty cute face, don't I?'

While thinking about useless stuff, Hecate queued and waited for her turn to come.